e&-backed Nawy based in Egypt, has acquired a majority stake in SmartCrowd, UAE’s first regulated platform enabling fractional property investments, marking a strategic entry into the GCC market.
The acquisition of SmartCrowd strengthens Nawy’s bid to become the definitive PropTech leader across the Middle East and Africa. This expansion follows Nawy’s recent $52 million, Series A fundraising.
Earlier this year, the Cairo-based company acquired asset management and home finishing startup ROA, relaunching it as Nawy Unlocked, a key pillar in its upcoming property super-app. With Dubai-headquartered SmartCrowd now part of its ecosystem, Nawy establishes a powerful foothold in the GCC market.
Founded in 2018, SmartCrowd pioneered fractional property investment in Dubai, allowing users to co-invest in premium, income-generating real estate from as little as $150. To date, the platform has enabled $110 million in property transactions, distributing over $40 million in rental income and capital gains.
SmartCrowd currently serves investors from over 130 countries and has successfully exited more than 50 properties as of June 2025, reinforcing its reputation for delivering consistent, market-leading returns. One of its flagship offerings, Flip, acquires and renovates undervalued assets to resell within 15 months, yielding an average 30 percent ROI as of June 2025.
The UAE’s real estate investment sector is projected to reach $33 billion by 2030, driven by tokenization, fractional ownership, and increased cross-border participation, making it a prime inflection point for Nawy’s regional push.
Riz Ahmed CEO – SmartCrowd
“This is a transformative transaction for SmartCrowd, joining forces with Nawy to build the region’s premier PropTech ecosystem. With strong alignment in vision and culture, this partnership accelerates our transition from startup to scale-up, making us the go-to platform for real estate investment in the Middle East.”
“SmartCrowd’s platform gives us a proven investment engine built on trust, performance, and regulatory strength. 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,” Mostafa ElBeltagy, CEO of Nawy stated.
Nawy’s growing ecosystem includes Nawy Now (home financing), Nawy Shares (fractional ownership platform), Nawy Unlocked (asset enhancement services), and Nawy Partners (B2B brokerage network). Together with SmartCrowd, the group delivers a comprehensive, tech-powered platform to buy, manage, and profit from real estate across key MENA markets.
With over 1 million monthly users and $3 billion in gross merchandise value to date, Nawy is rapidly establishing itself as a transformative force in the region’s PropTech landscape.
