SmartCrowd Expands Horizons in UAE PropTech with Strategic Nawy Partnership

Malaz Madani

Last updated 18-09-2025

3 min

SmartCrowd's fractional property platform joins Africa's largest PropTech network, Nawy, broadening its services.

The Dubai real estate market is evolving, with technology replacing traditional practices.

SmartCrowd's regulated model under DFSA builds credibility, showing over Dh40 million returns to investors.

With nearly 190 PropTech competitors, SmartCrowd's strategic moves and timing are critical for leadership.

Rapid market changes could impact success, but SmartCrowd makes real estate investment more accessible.

SmartCrowd has been making quiet but steady waves in the UAE’s real estate technology scene, and with the market expected to swell to around Dh5.69 billion by 2030, the timing seems spot on. The Dubai-based platform, which specialises in fractional property investment, recently became part of Africa’s largest PropTech ecosystem, Nawy. That move pushes it beyond the niche of alternative investments and into a much wider play that includes brokerage, mortgages, and asset management.

If you’ve been around property long enough, you’ll know it used to be all about plush offices, glossy brochures and handshakes over endless cups of Arabic coffee. Nowadays, investors want instant dashboards, clean data and a sense that their money is protected. The UAE’s authorities appear to have clocked this shift too: in Dubai, for instance, a PropTech hub is in the works that hopes to support 200 startups and create 3,000 jobs by 2030. Not small potatoes.

Adham Moshasha, Chief Growth Officer at SmartCrowd, summed it up rather neatly when pointing out that technology has brought real estate within reach for far more people. He argued that dashboards are replacing marble lobbies and, frankly, he has a point. In my own chats with founders across the region for Arageek, there’s a recurring theme: investors like clarity and hate uncertainty. I reckon SmartCrowd cottoned on to that early and built its credibility on being regulated under Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) rules. That regulatory stamp is a bit of a faff to get, but it helps distinguish them from the pack.

So far, the platform has closed more than 50 property exits and returned over Dh40 million to investors in rental income and capital gains. It also offers two main strategies: a slow-burn “Hold” for those who prefer long-term stability, and a quicker “Flip” approach for the short-term speculators. Nice to have the choice. And believe it or not, they’re operating through an SPV structure inside DIFC, which adds a legal backbone to every deal. That sort of architecture isn’t flashy, but it matters.

Now, being realistic, the UAE already hosts nearly 190 PropTech startups, so competition runs hot. Still, SmartCrowd’s combination of tried-and-tested results, compliance, and plans to expand its services through Nawy could help it stand tall. I’d say this is one of those cases where timing and execution will decide whether they keep leading or get overtaken.

On the flip side, the landscape moves quickly—one regulation tweak or a slowdown in property demand could change the mood overnight. Yet, walking around DIFC not long ago, I bumped into a few young founders buzzing about how platforms like SmartCrowd make investing in real estate feel, well… achievable. That sense of access is exactly what PropTech is meant to bring.

It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, of course; some traditional investors still aren’t convinced by fractional ownership models. But given the momentum and the UAE’s clear push for digital transformation, I’m definatley not betting against them.

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