Egypt’s Nawy Enters GCC via UAE's SmartCrowd Takeover

Egyptian prop-tech startup Nawy has expanded into the GCC market by acquiring a majority stake in the Dubai-based SmartCrowd, a DFSA-regulated platform that enables fractional property investment in the region.

Founded in 2019 by Mohamed Abou Ghanima, Abdel-Azim Osman, Ahmed Rafea, Aly Rafea, and Mostafa El-Beltagy, Nawy began as a property listings platform, allows users to browse houses online using customisable criteria such as unit space, price and location.

The startup has rapidly grown into Africa’s largest real estate technology company, with its expanding product portfolio including Nawy Now (“Move Now, Pay Later” mortgage financing), Nawy Shares (fractional ownership), Nawy Unlocked (property finishing, asset management, and rental monetisation), and Nawy Partners (empowering brokerages with exclusive tools, tech-driven sales enablement, and enhanced commissions).

Nawy announced in May it had raised US$75 million in debt and equity funding to help it expand across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, and it has now expanded into the GCC by acquiring Dubai’s SmartCrowd, which claims to have facilitated US$110 million in property transactions and distributed over US$40 million in returns since its launch in 2018.

With the acquisition, Nawy’s ecosystem now includes platforms for home financing, brokerage, fractional ownership, and asset enhancement – offering a full-stack prop-tech experience for MENA markets.

“SmartCrowd’s platform gives us a proven investment engine built on trust, performance, and regulatory strength,” said Mostafa El-Beltagy, CEO of Nawy. “The perfect match for Nawy’s tech-first approach to real estate. Together, we’re unlocking a new era of seamless property investment across MENA: data-driven, accessible, and built for today’s digital investor.”

Source: Disrupt Africa