Jad Antoun, CEO & Co-founder Huspy (Centre) with the Leadership-Team. Photo:Huspy
Dubai’s proptech start-up Huspy Raise $37 million in series A round
Huspy, the Dubai-based proptech start-up, on Tuesday said that it has raised $37 million in its series A financing round led by Sequoia Capital India. The latest raise saw Founders Fund and Fifth Wall make their debuts in the Middle East market.
The other investors including Chimera Capital, Breyer Capital, VentureFriends, Cotu Ventures, Venture Souq, and BY Venture Partners also participated.
Launched in 2020, Huspy aims to simplify the process of buying homes by providing users with a full-service property marketplace that connects buyers, property agents, and mortgage brokers on a single platform. Since its launch, the company has hit the $2 billion-mark in terms of annualized gross merchandise value, which has been increasing by 25% every month.
Huspy will use the fresh funds to invest in tech development, double down on growth in the UAE and Spain, and expand across Europe.
The investment comes as demand for residential and industrial properties has increased, with the global real estate market recording a 59% growth in 2021 from a year ago. However, less than 1% of home purchases are completed through digital channels.
Foundation Laid
Jad Antoun, co-founder & CEO – Huspy said, “We’ve laid the foundation for a very defensible business that’s redefining home ownership in EMEA. Our aspiration is to continue building Huspy into a category-defining company and set a new bar for the way people buy and finance their houses.”
He further said: “In just under two years, Huspy has grown to become one of the largest property platforms, facilitating billions of dollars in volume. Today, we’re humbled to partner with global and regional investors and we look forward to working together to reshape the world’s largest asset class.”
With a total addressable market of $13 billion across the UAE and Spain, Huspy remains committed to creating a world-class experience for home buyers in EMEA. Through trusted partnerships with leading property agents and international financial institutions, Huspy’s customers have a unique opportunity to discover, buy and finance their homes all in one place.
Strong Value Proposition
“We are impressed with Jad and Huspy’s mission to transform the home buying and financing experience in the region. In a short span of time, the company has demonstrated its strong value proposition for the real estate ecosystem and has become the market leader in mortgage broking in the UAE with healthy unit economics. And, Huspy’s ethos to build for the long term with a deep focus on having the best team in the region resonates deeply with us,” said G V Ravishankar, MD, Sequoia India.
Huspy aims to solve the challenges that come across every stage of the home-buying process by using tech and the knowledge of industry experts.
The firm raised an undisclosed sum in its seed round led by Athens-based Venture Friends in April 2021. Huspy said it was one of the largest seed rounds ever raised by a start-up in the Middle East and North Africa.