#Dubai Real Estate Fintech Stake Gets Backed By Aramco’s Venture Arm, Mubadala - Bloomberg

Dubai Real Estate Fintech Stake Gets Backed By Aramco’s Venture Arm, Mubadala - Bloomberg

A Dubai-based digital platform for real estate investment raised $14 million from investors including Saudi Aramco’s venture capital arm and an Abu Dubai sovereign wealth fund.

Stake secured funds from Aramco’s Wa’ed Ventures, Mubadala Investment Co. as well as US-based private investing platform Republic, in a Series A round led by Middle East Venture Partners, according to a statement. The startup declined to give its valuation.

Using the fractional ownership model, Stake facilitates property investments starting from 500 dirhams ($136). It has over 500,000 users — 50% of whom are from outside of the United Arab Emirates, the firm said in a statement.

The firm will use part of the proceeds to enter Saudi Arabia. It plans to become the first platform to allow individuals outside of the kingdom to invest in the local real estate market.

There are “huge tailwinds from pent-up demand from the local population and opening up to foreign ownership,” co-founder Manar Mahmassani told Bloomberg. Stake plans to triple its headcount in the kingdom to 15 by the end of the year, he said.

Since its launch in 2021, the startup has raised $13 million from seed and pre-Series A funding. So far, it has purchased over 200 properties worth 355 million dirhams, according to the statement.

Dubai’s real estate market has been booming, aided by an influx of wealthy people from around the world. Average apartment prices in the emirate increased 20.4% in the January-March period, according to a May report from CBRE Group Inc.

Over in Saudi Arabia, which is pursuing a multitrillion-dollar economic transformation, average apartment prices in Riyadh rose 8.4% in the same period, according to CBRE.