Dubai real estate start-up Smart Crowd closes $600,000 seed funding round

Dubai-based real estate start-up Smart Crowd said on Monday it had closed a $600,000 seed funding round.

Abu Dhabi’s Shorooq Investments, distributed ledger technology firm Abaxx Technologies and venture fund 500 Start-ups led the round, which also saw participation from individual investors.

Smart Crowd operates a real state crowd funding investment platform under Dubai International Finance Centres’s Innovation Testing Licence scheme after participating in the first edition of the zone’s accelerator programme.

It allows people to buy and sell shares in specific properties as an investment.

The company said its current licence, which it received in April, allows UAE residents to invest in Dubai property but it planned to apply for a full licence after the trial period to open to international investors.

Read: Dubai expands experimental licence scheme for fintechs

“The fundraise will allow us to accelerate our growth and continue to invest in our revolutionary technology. We are particularly proud to have Shorooq as our lead investor who believed in us early on and supported us throughout the funding round,” Smart Crowd co-founder Siddiq Farid.