For decades, Egypt’s real estate market was notoriously fragmented and opaque—buyers relied heavily on personal connections, commission-driven brokers, and developers more interested in selling aggressively than catering to genuine customer needs. Seeing these frustrations firsthand led Mostafa El Beltagy, along with co-founders Abdel-Azim Osman, Ahmed Rafea, Mohamed Abou Ghanima, and Aly Rafea, to establish Nawy in 2019, aiming to bring transparency and efficiency to property transactions across Egypt.
Today, positioning itself as Africa’s largest proptech platform, Nawy has announced a substantial $52 million Series A funding round led by the prominent, Africa-focused venture capital firm, Partech Africa. Comprising both equity and a $23 million debt facility secured from leading Egyptian banks, this round marks one of the most significant Series A raises ever seen by an African startup.
Initially inspired by El Beltagy’s personal struggles navigating Egypt’s complex real estate market as a potential investor, Nawy combined digital property listings with brokerage services. El Beltagy, recalling his frustrating experience, described how traditional real estate agents usually acted in self-interest, leaving buyers without adequate transparency: “I had no effective way of understanding the market besides individually approaching developers and salespeople. It was exceedingly inefficient. Everyone had an incentive to push me in one direction or another.”
Nawy addressed these core issues systematically. The startup’s platform allows users to seamlessly buy, sell, and invest in properties, offering a combination of digital tools, data-driven insights, and personalized brokerage assistance. Early on, gaining market trust was difficult; developers were skeptical about Nawy’s reach, and brokers initially viewed the service as competition. To turn these perceptions around, Nawy introduced immediate, upfront commission payments to brokers upon completion of their first deal through the platform. This strategy quickly captured broker interest, leading to rapid adoption through word-of-mouth, and now over 3,000 brokerages use the company’s “Nawy Partners” product to access live inventory and flexible commission options.
Today, Nawy attracts more than one million monthly visitors, with about 150 developers—representing the bulk of Egypt’s $30 billion new-build market—listing actively on the site. The platform recorded more than $1.4 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV) in 2024, an exceptional surge from just $38 million in 2020, despite Egypt’s challenging economic environment marked by profound currency depreciation and inflationary pressures.
Nawy’s growth extends beyond property listings; it has evolved into a comprehensive, full-stack real estate ecosystem. A diversified portfolio of products has helped sustain growth, even amid economic turbulence. For instance, Nawy Shares—its fractional ownership program—allows Egyptians to start investing in real estate with as little as $500, unlocking property investment for middle-income buyers historically priced out of the market. It also introduced a mortgage product named “Move Now Pay Later,” supported by the debt component of its latest funding round, enabling buyers to finance purchases through manageable installment plans, a critical offering given the scarcity of conventional mortgages in Egypt.
The fresh financing will fuel Nawy’s ambitious regional expansion. The company intends to move beyond Egypt’s borders into rapidly growing real estate markets like Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. CEO El Beltagy stated that acquisitions would play a key role in this strategy—recently highlighted by Nawy’s acquisition and rebranding of property management startup ROA as “Nawy Unlocked,” expanding its range of services further.
Beyond expanding geographically and via acquisitions, Nawy plans to use the new capital for substantial technological development. AI integration will become central across all internal processes, leveraging automation and advanced data analytics to further strengthen its pioneering position in the sector.
Other investors participating alongside Partech Africa in the latest round include Development Partners International’s Nclude Fund, e& Capital, Endeavor Catalyst, HOF Capital, March Capital Investments, Outliers, Plug and Play, Shorooq Partners, VentureSouq, and Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures.
Partech Africa’s general partner, Tidjane Deme, summed up investor confidence succinctly: “We’re excited to back Nawy, as they set the standards for a modern, technology-driven real estate experience. With its profound market insights, ambitious regional growth plan, and proven execution capabilities, Nawy has emerged as the clear market leader in proptech across Africa and the Middle East.”
