North Africa is an outlier when it comes to online fashion shops, but online real estate shops are joining the league, in a big way, this year. In Egypt, two deals (Sakneen and RentUp), running into millions of dollars, have already been closed so far, but Morocco has also joined. And unlike investments in fashion shops led mostly by venture capital firms, angels, other investors and VCs are slugging it out in the proptech space. One such other investor which has just thrown more of its hats into the ring is Emerging Markets Property Group (EMPG), based in Dubai in the UAE. The real estate company has poured $10 million cash into Mubawab, a Morocco-based real estate portal.
And the investment is strategic: Mubawab would be a channel for EMPG to expand more deeply into the whole of the Maghreb region, made up of Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia. The investment would also assist Mubawab to develop its technology to handle these expansion plans. With the funding too, 200 employees are coming onboard the company. Also coming, this time inhouse, is a research and development department to help Mubawab respond to the market accurately, and on time.
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“Gaining the confidence of investors is a guarantee of credibility on the market and towards our clients. Real estate still has a lot to give in the Maghreb region and technology is our strong link in this high potential market. Our backing from the EMPG group provides us with financial security, additional real estate expertise and a long-term strategic partnership,” said Kevin Gormand, co-founder and CEO of Mubawab.
Why The Investor Invested
Since Mubawab was acquired in 2018 by EMPG, it has been pumping upon pumping of money. In January last year, EMPG pumped $7m into Mubawab, and is now following it up with the latest round. This shows, to a large extent, huge validation on the profitability of the startup, as well as the capacity of its founders, who have been on the startup journey since 10 years, to deliver.
“Mubawab’s leadership and vision in supporting real estate professionals to meet demand, confirms our choice to invest in Mubawab to consolidate its position as a major and essential real estate player in the Maghreb,” said Haider Ali Khan, CEO of the EMPG MENA Group.
“ This expertise is the strength of Mubawab, which experienced a performance rebound in the last quarter of 2020 and sets it apart from other real estate players,” he said.
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A Look At What Mubawab Does
Mubawab is a platform that allows users to purchase, sell, and rent properties in Morocco and Tunisia. It was founded in 2011 by Kevin Gormand and Toni Puig. It was purchased by EMPG in 2018. EMPG also owns Bayut in the UAE and Zameen in Pakistan.
“If we don’t say loud and clear that we are the one and only market leader, it’s simply because, as you must have noticed, everyone is calling themselves leaders today. As far as we are concerned, comfortably seated in the front row, we are relying on the real numbers to prove that we are far ahead of our rivals. At the moment we register 800,000 visits to Mubawab, when they barely reach 600,000 according to the SimilarWeb auditor,” Gormand said, in 2018.
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“In addition, we enjoy the trust of 400 loyal customers. A portfolio that greatly exceeds that of vertical competitors. On the other hand, we are the first in terms of turnover, qualitative content but also returns for our clients (the number of transactions that agencies and promoters make thanks to us). They will indeed testify that Mubawab is the only employee to send the greatest number of qualified contacts. In addition, we stand out through the efficiency of our overall strategy, which brings together all departments of the company, particularly sales and customer service, and which fits perfectly into its ecosystem. Once again, we are a company that capitalizes enormously on its human resources by enhancing them, training them and helping them in their career plan,” he said.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer