The SME Story: Jad Antoun, CEO and co-founder of Huspy 

What is Huspy’s core business model?
Huspy is a platform that delivers financing and refinancing of UAE properties. A technology company at its core with in-house real estate expertise, Huspy is addressing the end-to-end experience of the real estate market in the region, building solutions that dramatically speed up and enhance the customer experience, whilst freeing up market liquidity by making transactions faster and more attractive.

What convinced you that the market needs a concept such as Huspy?
I was fortunate enough to work in an early stage startup in the US prior to coming to Dubai and joining the investment team at BECO where we sought out tech companies to champion in the region – Careem and Kitopi, for example. This has given me a real appetite for building tech solutions for real world problems in a region I care passionately about. Thanks to my investment background, I am able to tap into an extensive network of investors both locally and abroad to help bring on this journey with us. While more expats are considering laying down roots here, globally mortgage rates are down and consumers are growing accustomed to more control, emboldened with greater access to information and frustrated by the slow pace of change in the real estate industry. Enter new enterprises like Huspy that help make it easier for people to purchase, sell, finance and refinance a property.

Could you give us a business overview of Huspy?
Starting with the UAE, Huspy will develop a core tech stack for the market and then seek to locally adapt and roll it out across a regional footprint within and beyond MENA. Within just nine months of operations, Huspy has generated over $250m in annualised gross merchandise value and completed over 300 transactions. Huspy is backed by VC investment, has closed its seed round and will continue to raise equity to develop and scale the business. We are currently a team of 30 with core talent in tech, growth, operations, marketing and banking.

What have been some of the biggest stumbling blocks since getting Huspy off the ground?
Attracting the right talent will always be a challenge for a startup. We have secured a top-class team with a mix of experience from tech companies including Microsoft and Uber, fintechs including Nubank and Revolut, and proptech giant Loft. This gives us a deep-rooted understanding of building and scaling the business. Since we are bringing new technologies to the ecosystem, there is naturally a period where trust needs to be earned and values need to be demonstrated. Successful disruption relies on us getting all our key partners in the industry on board. It’s also dependent on the end consumer feeling confident that we can deliver a superior experience and trusting us to guide them through one of the largest purchases of their lives.

How does Huspy compare to other existing proptech firms regionally and globally?
Huspy was founded with the aim of bringing a new solution to the real estate market that would end the pain of the home buying and selling process. Until recently, very little innovation has happened around this area both locally and internationally. Unlike other industries that have seen themselves disrupted and improved by technology, the real estate industry is relatively untouched. We are in an era of being always-on and of convenience and speed and Huspy has set out to develop technology that can deliver these benefits to the regional real estate industry.