If you walked into a Dubai bank to apply for a mortgage in 2020, chances are you’d spend months buried in paperwork or face a huge price discrepancy when it came to listings. Such experiences led Jad Antoun to start Huspy, a startup streamlining how people in the UAE buy homes digitally.
Over the past five years, the company has grown into one of the largest proptechs in the UAE, and has expanded into Spain, by providing digital tools for finding homes and obtaining mortgages.
Huspy’s Recent Funding Success
Huspy just closed a $59 million Series B to double down on operations across the Middle East and expand its European presence, led by existing investor Balderton Capital and Peak XV.
In 2022, Huspy raised over $40 million in Series A and an extension from a variety of global investors, including Balderton Capital, Founders Fund, and Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia Capital India & SEA). Other investors include ExBorder Partners, Turmeric Capital, BY Ventures, Dara Management, and KE Partners.
The new capital will fuel Huspy’s continued growth in the UAE and Spain and support its launch in Saudi Arabia, according to Antoun.
Success in the Proptech Industry
This investment is significant for Huspy as the proptech sector has faced challenges in recent years. Companies like Opendoor and Compass have struggled to maintain valuations and profitability amid higher U.S. interest rates. However, Huspy has managed to stand out by building a repeatable and efficient playbook for city launches and innovating with AI tools for brokers and agents.
Rana Yared, general partner at Balderton Capital, mentioned that Huspy’s pace of innovation continues to raise the bar for the entire industry.
Huspy’s Unique Approach
Huspy operates on a network-based model across the UAE and Spain, where freelance agents use the platform to access property leads from marketplaces like Property Finder and Idealista. The company provides CRM tools, transaction support, and integrated mortgage products through its banking partners.
This low-overhead approach sets Huspy apart from iBuyer models or traditional brokerages, resembling more of an Uber for real estate than Zillow.
Expansion and Growth
Antoun and deputy CEO Ziad Nassar believe that Huspy has found a repeatable model that will be hard to replicate. By targeting mid-sized cities with high transaction volume and low agent efficiency, building supply through marketplace partnerships, and onboarding top-performing agents onto the platform, Huspy has seen rapid growth.
In Spain, the company claims to be one of the top three real estate companies in Valencia by transaction volume and operates in six cities with over 20x year-on-year growth.
Future Plans
Huspy has helped over 25,000 people buy homes across its markets and has experienced significant revenue growth since 2022. The company plans to launch in most major cities across Europe and the Middle East over the next four years, aiming to operate in over 10 cities by the end of 2025.
With the proptech industry in the region gaining momentum, Huspy is poised for further success and expansion in the coming years.
