Property Finder raises $170m as UAE sovereign funds deepen bet on property tech
Property Finder has raised $170 million in fresh funding, led by Mubadala Investment Company alongside another UAE sovereign wealth fund and long-time backer BECO Capital. The investment pushes the company’s total equity raised close to $700 million and cements its position as one of the region’s most heavily backed technology platforms.
For Property Finder’s founder and chief executive Michael Lahyani, the timing matters as much as the capital. “We are honoured to welcome Mubadala and our new sovereign wealth fund partners at such an important moment in our journey,” he said, pointing to the scale the company has reached and the resilience of its business model. “Their support is a testament to the strength of our platform, the depth of our data, and the resilience of our business model.”
This is not a young startup chasing its first institutional cheque. Founded in 2007, Property Finder operates in a mature classifieds market and dominates online property search across the UAE, with a growing footprint across MENA. The new round follows a $525 million investment in 2025 led by funds advised by Permira, with participation from Blackstone Growth, and builds on an earlier stake held by General Atlantic.
In practical terms, this is late-stage capital backing scale rather than a speculative bet on unproven technology.
Why sovereign money is stepping in
Under the transaction, Mubadala and the second UAE sovereign wealth fund are each investing $75 million, while BECO Capital is committing $20 million from its newly launched $250 million growth fund. For BECO, which first backed Property Finder more than a decade ago, the round represents continuity rather than a new relationship.
“Property Finder is creating real value for all stakeholders in the real-estate ecosystem: buyers, agents, and sellers,” said Amer Alaily, general partner at BECO Capital. “The company exemplifies what our Growth Fund was built to support.”
From the sovereign investor’s perspective, the logic is explicitly strategic. Dr. Bakheet Al Katheeri, CEO of UAE Investments Platform at Mubadala, described the investment as part of a broader effort to support national champions. “Property Finder has established a resilient and scalable business at the intersection of technology and real estate,” he said, adding that the sector remains a core priority for Mubadala’s long-term portfolio.
Property Finder sits neatly within the UAE’s push to digitise real-world industries, particularly those tied to housing, finance, and urban development. Strong transaction volumes, sustained housing demand, and clearer regulation have created conditions where platforms, not just developers, can extract durable value.
The AI story, without the hype
The company highlights AI-driven tools such as home valuation, credit optimisation, and agent productivity software as areas of momentum. These features are increasingly standard across global property portals, but Property Finder’s advantage lies less in novelty and more in scale.
As chief financial officer Jamie O’Mahony put it, the investment reflects confidence both globally and locally. “As Permira and Blackstone validated our story globally, this investment affirms that confidence here at home,” he said. “It accelerates our ambition to build the region’s leading real estate operating system, powered by data, trust and innovation.”
Control over demand, supply, and transaction data is what makes those tools commercially meaningful. Property Finder already operates at that layer, which helps explain why investors are backing it as infrastructure rather than as a feature-led tech company.
Part of a wider Gulf pattern
Zooming out, the deal fits a broader trend across the Gulf. Sovereign wealth funds are increasingly directing capital toward scaled, cash-generating platforms rather than loss-making startups built on imported Silicon Valley narratives.
Real estate marketplaces, fintech infrastructure, logistics software, and energy-adjacent platforms are emerging as preferred targets. They align with national priorities, generate predictable cash flows, and offer long-term strategic relevance.
For Property Finder, the expectations now shift. With close to $1 billion raised across equity and debt, the focus moves from expansion to execution. Margins, ecosystem depth, and integration across the property lifecycle will matter more than headline growth.
For the UAE, the message is consistent. Technology is no longer just something to encourage. It is something to own, scale, and institutionalise.
And for founders watching the region, the signal is clear. The biggest cheques are now following control, cash flow, and real economic gravity, not vision alone.