The digital real estate investment platform, Smart Crowd, has won “Fintech of the Year” at this year’s Arabian Business Technology Awards. The awards attract participants from throughout the region, and recognises only the best in the field of IT. In a pool of highly competitive nominees, the Dubai-headquartered smartcrowd.ae was selected as “Fintech of the Year” owing to its innovative approach to real estate investing and its speed to market.
The platform’s innovative crowdfunding model has enabled a new generation of investors to participate in the real estate market, shifting the traditional investment mindset. Smart Crowd’s model lowers barriers to entry for investing in the real estate market by eliminating the need for large lump-sums of cash, increasing diversification and practically eliminating bureaucracy traditionally associated with purchasing a property asset.
With Smart Crowd, users simply need to register, choose a vetted investment property, and can invest a fraction of the property’s value. Once the investment is complete, investors can start seeing a return on their investment in the form of rental income in proportion to their ownership.
The Fintech of the Year award is the latest in a string of wins for Smart Crowd. Smart Crowd was selected in the region’s only fintech accelerator, DIFC’s Fintech Hive, and in 2017 won the Accenture Innovation Award at GITEX and Best Startup at Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival. Smart Crowd was also the runner-up at Smart Dubai’s Global Block Chain Challenge at the inaugural Future Blockchain Summit. In 2018 Smart Crowd became the first and only financially-regulated digital real estate investment platform in the MENA region.
“We are honored to be recognized as Fintech of the Year, and are thrilled at what we have managed to accomplish in such a short time,” said Siddiq Farid, Smart Crowd Co-Founder. “Our aim to bring young professionals into the fold of real estate investing is what drives our success. This award is proof positive that our hard work is allowing us to to achieve our goals.”
“This year, competition for the Fintech of the Year was award impressive,” said panel member Shane McGinley, editorial director, ITP “Smart Crowd has come on the scene at exactly the right time, bringing a new and innovative way of thinking about investments to the real estate market. The award recognises not only their technology, but also their success in unlocking investment opportunities for young people.”
The 2019 Arabian Business Technology Awards will take place at the Jumeirah Emirates Towers Hotel on Sunday, March 31.
About Smart Crowd
Smart Crowd is a digital real estate investment platform which provides the opportunity to buy and sell shares in properties, reducing barriers to entry to low-middle income households to build financial assets and generate investment income. Smart Crowd caters to most people who find it hard to get on the property ladder to build a diversified portfolio and “unlock their wealth potential”.
In April 2018 Smart Crowd became the first and only financially-regulated digital investment platform in MENA. We provide users with active share management, transparency in their property investment, low investment cost and very low minimum investment levels.
Smart Crowd Limited (Smart Crowd) is regulated by the DFSA. Smart Crowd’s Licence is a restricted ‘Innovation Testing Licence’ and it is restricted under the DFSA Licence to testing its platform. Due to the limited nature of its Licence, normal Client protections may not apply and Clients may have limited rights if they suffer as a result of taking part in testing.
Smart Crowd is part of the region’s only fintech accelerator, DIFC’s Fintech Hive, and has won numerous awards including Accenture Innovation Award at GITEX 2017, Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival Pitch competition, and Smart Dubai’s Global Blockchain challenge.
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