Emirati Proptech Startup Silkhaus Raises $7.75 Million in Seed Funding

Silkhaus, a UAE-based property technology platform, has raised $7.75 million in Seed funding from Nuwa Capital, Nordstar, Global Founders Capital, Yuj Ventures, Whiteboard Capital, and Venture Souq, with participation from international family offices and angel investors. 

Founded in 2021 by Aahan Bhojani and Ashmin Varma, Silkhaus provides short-term rentals across emerging markets. Through its digital platform, it is able to provide asset owners with tools to monetize and manage their properties. “We are witnessing a significant increase in alternative accommodation and short-term rentals,” Aahan Bhojani, Founder and CEO of Silkhaus, tells StartupScene. “However, the management of short-term rentals is highly fragmented and largely offline.

Property owners lack the technology and know-how to deliver a world-class and standardized experience. We are building the operating system for property owners - large or small - to operate high-quality short-term rentals and deliver memorable guest experiences."

To make short term rental more accessible and convenient to asset owners, Silkhause enables users to list single or multiple properties on the platform. According to Silkhaus, this leads to an average revenue yield increase between 20% to 40%. Since launching last year, Silkhaus claims to have grown 12 tenfold during the past 12 months. The new funding will be used to accelerate the startup’s expansion across the Middle East and North Africa, as well as in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The startup has earlier identified a $13 billion target market across these regions.

The proptech market in the UAE has been growing exponentially since last year, with real estate transactions increasing by 65% in 2021 compared to the previous year, according to data by Middle East Proptech Initiative. Some UAE-based proptech startups that have received significant funding this year include Huspy raising $37 million; Stake raising $8 million; and Houza raising $5.5 million.