Middle Eastern tech entrepreneur launches Urban app for Dubai's rental market

Deep tech vet and CEO of Cafu, Rashid Al Ghurair, has announced the launch of Urban, an app that facilitates the entire rental lifecycle, allowing users to browse inspected homes, visit them through their phones and make monthly payments.

One of the first comprehensive solutions of its kind, Urban has been developed entirely in Dubai by a team who shared tenants’ frustrations such as false photography, inconvenient viewing times, exhausting negotiations, and inflexible payment options, and decided to address it.

Designed to make the experience of renting joyful rather than painful, Urban introduces several unique features for renters, most notably doing away with checks, and instead offering credit and direct debit payments in addition to the option to pay their rent in 12 monthly installments.

Additional key features of Urban include:

• Virtual tours of every listed home
• High-quality, carefully inspected homes
• Allows tenants to unlock smart locks using their phones
• Making an offer in-app and bringing transparency to negotiations
• Renting online, without the paperwork

Urban is designed in response to growing issues voiced by renters, as evidenced in a recent YouGov survey commissioned by Intelligent B, the technology incubator behind Cafu and Urban, which found that two thirds (66%) of respondents had viewed a home that did not match their expectations, while 30% faced difficulties coordinating timings with agents. Almost a third (32%) of Dubai residents found the current rental process stressful.

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