Nomad Homes seeks to empower property buyers by offering ‘specialised support’
▶ UAE and Europe-based platform has raised $44m in funding since 2020, writes Alkesh Sharma
Entrepreneur Helen Chen took a leap of faith when she co-founded property technology start-up Nomad Homes at the peak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
Ms Chen says she was so passionate about the market opportunity that she dropped out of her MBA course at Stanford University, California, to start the company.
Her bet paid off. Nomad, which caters to clients in the UAE and Europe, has attracted strong investor interest amid the boom in the property market.
The company offers property buyers a single point of contact for representation by pairing technology with local customer service experts who assist clients in buying homes.
It provides a customised home-buying process, from the initial search of a property to financing and signing the final agreement. The company grants access to an extensive pool of off-market listings, all without any additional cost.
“Having lived in the US where both sellers and buyers have separate agent representation, I have seen the benefits,” Ms Chen, 32, says.
“So, when I saw in EMEA [Europe, Middle East and Africa] agents typically only represent the seller, and the buyers are left with no support, I had to start a company to fix that problem … I believe, buyers deserve expert advocacy just like sellers do … that’s just fair,” says Ms Chen, who previously worked with the world’s largest alternative asset investment firm Blackstone.
Nomad represents itself as the sole real estate agency in Dubai dedicated exclusively to serving buyers by offering them specialised support that is separate from the seller.
“We give buyers skilled assistance just like sellers, helping them find a property and supporting [them] until the day they get the keys,” says Ms Chen.
She says her vision is to rectify the real estate industry’s discrepancies by providing buyers with a fair chance at expert representation, aligning with the principles seen in professional sports where separate coaches represent opposing teams.
She co-founded Nomad with Damien Drap, 38, and Dan Piehler, 33, who are chief operating officer and chief product officer of the company, respectively.
Mr Drap previously worked as general manager with Uber Eats for the GCC, while Mr Piehler was associated with American wealth management platform Addepar.
Ms Chen says the company’s founders bonded over their common frustrations of finding a home in a new city. “We connected through friends and friends of friends and immediately bonded over the fact that real estate has to change. It is the largest most antiquated industry in the world.
“Customers are shelling out huge chunks of money to build their real estate assets and they certainly deserve better deals and a fair representation … and we are on a mission to make things better,” Ms Chen says.
Property technology is the application of technology into the real estate industry, creating an ecosystem that encompasses everything from property management and bookings to construction and analytics, all largely accessible using a mobile app.
The global property technology market is projected to reach $86.5 billion in 2032, from $18.2 billion in 2022, expanding at a compound annual rate of almost 17 per cent, data from Future Market Insights showed. In October, Nomad raised $20 million in a series A extension round led by California-based Acrew Capital, a multi-stage venture fund.
A mix of new and existing investors also participated in the round, including 01 Advisors – an investment fund co-founded by former Twitter executives Dick Costolo and Adam Bain – HighSage Ventures, Abstract Ventures, Partech, Precursor Ventures, Potluck Ventures, Knollwood and several undisclosed hedge funds.
Operating in the UAE, France, Spain and Portugal, the company raised $20 million in September 2021 in its series A round. Nomad has since grown more than 24 times, the company says.
The start-up says the new capital will be used to fuel growth, build artificial intelligence-driven new capabilities for buyers, and launch Nomad Homes Private Client.
It is a service for clients purchasing a single property or a portfolio of assets over Dh10 million ($2.7 million).
It is similar to high-end private banking solutions, in which advisers provide expert guidance, develop data-led negotiation strategies and ensure privacy for buyers.
“We have raised $44 million to date. We are not raising any fresh capital right now and are focused on building new capabilities and offering more customised solutions to our clients,” Ms Chen says.
Although the company is not planning immediate expansion, it remains open to opportunities, she says.
“We are always assessing new market opportunities.
I measure every opportunity based on the potential return on investment and depending on the scale, we make investments both for short-term and long-term projects.
“We are investing heavily in the Dubai market. In addition, we are investing in our new B2B [business-to-business] product Nomad Agent, expanding our mortgage capabilities, and further buildout of our AI driven co-pilot for buyers,” Mr Chen says.
Despite launching during a pandemic, Nomad managed to navigate through initial setbacks caused by lockdown restrictions due to its tech-centric approach.
However, Ms Chen says still there is a long way to go as the region’s real estate market suffers from many inefficiencies.
Despite the real estate market representing more than $20 trillion across the EMEA region, the industry is still riddled with duplicate listings and no pricing data to understand the true value of a home, she adds.
“EMEA’s residential real estate suffers from inefficiencies due to the absence of an MLS [multiple listings service]-like platform where agents can collaborate to sell homes,” Ms Chen says.
“Despite an estimated $2 trillion transactions per year, this lack of cohesion and infrastructure hampers collaboration among agents, leaves buyers unrepresented, and increases transaction friction, limiting liquidity and market growth,” Ms Chen says.
Nomad, which is not yet profitable, says it has helped customers transact on properties worth billions of dollars, without disclosing any figures.
Ms Chen expects the company to become profitable by the second quarter of next year.
“We are here for a long innings,” she says.
“Our vision is to make home ownership simple and efficient because agents are empowered to collaborate with one another through our solutions. I am committed to making this vision a long-lasting reality.”