One of the largest investment rounds raised by a technology company based in MENA region has been raised to Propertyfinder Group!
PropertyFinder has secured $120 million investment by one of the best global growth equity firm headquartered in New York, “General Atlantic”, in exchange for a minority stake in the company. General Atlantic has previously invested in Facebook, Uber, Alibaba, AirBnB and many others.
PropertyFinder.com is a Dubai-based website that acts as the largest real estate marketing site in Egypt and has branches in 8 more countries in North Africa and the Middle East. The company’s value has risen to around $500 million with its latest investment led by General Atlantic while its last valuation was accounted for $200 million in January 2016 when it raised $20 million from Vostok New Ventures in Stockholm.
Michael Lahyani, PropertyFinder’s CEO, explained: “The fund will be dedicated to the development of our products and technology base as well as the expansion of our existing markets in the Middle East and North Africa”. Michael also added that the company will increase its workforce by 44 %.
Lahyani specifically declared that among all the markets in which propertyfinder exists, the real estate market in Egypt is the most promising, as its growth is clearly the most noticeable.
Mohamed Hammad, Propertyfinder Egypt’s Mangaing Director, stated: “The real estate market in Egypt is facing a transition period resulted by the increase in prices that led investors to retreating from the investment real estate.”
That being said, he added that it is expected that a huge shift in demand would take place in the rental market leading to a significant increase in the upcoming period.
Hammad explained that the real estate developers would also offer longer payment plans, especially starting from January 2019. And as for secondary market and resale units, the demand would remain weak due to the lack of liquidity in the market.
Hammad lastly concluded that he is optimistic about the Egyptian real estate market as it is a very strong market with stable value since 1960. And while this stage maybe a bit turbulent but, with more foreign investments, the real estate market will certainly flourish again.
Lastly, Lahyani stated that the website has achieved significant profits over the last 4 years and recorded 6 Million monthly visits in the Middle East and North Africa markets.
The company also owns a minority stake in the “Zingat” website in Turkey and some of its latest capital came from one of their existing investors, Vostok New Ventures – a Swedish based listed investment company focused on online marketplaces.
Chris Kalkin, Chief Technology Officer for Europe, Middle East and Africa at General Atlantic finally expressed his thrill to partner with Propertyfinder team stating that Propertyfinder’s focus on building a world-class product for all property seekers across the region is generating fantastic momentum. Chris Caulkin will also be joining Property Finder’s Board of Directors as part of the transaction.
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