In the realm of real estate in Egypt, the process of buying property has historically been a complex and opaque one. With a fragmented market, reliance on personal connections, commission-driven brokers, and developers more focused on sales than customer service, navigating the real estate landscape was no easy feat.
In 2019, Mostafa El Beltagy, Abdel-Azim Osman, Ahmed Rafea, Mohamed Abou Ghanima, and Aly Rafea came together to address these challenges by founding Nawy. Their goal was to inject transparency and efficiency into the market, revolutionizing the way real estate transactions were conducted. Fast forward to today, Nawy has positioned itself as Africa’s largest proptech platform, raising an impressive $52 million in Series A funding led by Partech Africa, a prominent Africa-focused VC firm. This funding has validated Nawy’s innovative model of combining property listings with brokerage services.
The Series A round, which includes an additional $23 million in debt financing from Egypt’s top banks, has brought Nawy’s total funding to $75 million, making it one of the largest Series A rounds for an African startup. The journey of co-founder and CEO El Beltagy into proptech stemmed from personal frustrations he encountered while trying to invest in real estate in Egypt. The lack of transparency and biased advice prevalent in the market propelled him to create Nawy, a platform designed to assist individuals in buying, selling, investing in, financing, and managing property.
Nawy faced initial challenges in securing listings, as developers were skeptical of their value and brokers viewed them as competition. To build trust, Nawy introduced immediate commission payments to brokers who completed their first transaction on the platform. This strategy proved successful, leading to rapid growth and over 3,000 brokerages actively using Nawy Partners.
The Cairo-based proptech platform now attracts over a million monthly visitors and boasts hundreds of developers vying for visibility on its platform. Nawy has expanded its services beyond listings and brokerage, offering products like Nawy Shares, a fractional ownership option, and a mortgage product called “Move Now Pay Later,” designed to facilitate property purchases through installment plans.
Despite economic volatility and the Egyptian pound’s depreciation, Nawy has seen exponential growth, with revenue increasing over 50 times in the past four years. The company closed 2024 with a gross merchandise value of over $1.4 billion, a significant jump from $38 million in 2020.
With a fresh injection of capital, Nawy plans to expand into North Africa and the Middle East, targeting markets like Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. The company also aims to integrate AI into its processes and advance product development. Notable investors in the Series A round include Development Partners International’s Nclude Fund and Endeavor Catalyst, among others.
Nawy’s vision for a modern, tech-driven real estate experience has garnered praise from investors like Tidjane Deme of Partech Africa, who commended the company’s market insights and regional expansion plans. With a focus on exceptional execution, Nawy is poised to be a leading proptech champion in Africa and the Middle East, reshaping the real estate landscape for the better.
