Houza Secures Series-A Funding and Appoints New CEO

Houza, the Dubai-based property portal, has announced its new CEO as part of a successful Series-A fundraising round.

Houza secured $5.5 million in a private funding round, while Jean-Pierre Mondalek joins as chief executive.

The company received funding from some of United Arab Emirates' (UAE) top real estate agencies, including Allsopp & Allsopp, Betterhomes Group, Driven Properties, D&B Properties and Espace Real Estate.

Incoming CEO Mondalek has a background in online marketplaces, e-commerce, private equity and global tech investing. He boasts a CV including launching Ubers' first Mideal East operation out of Dubai and building Amazon's brand marketing and peak sale event programs across UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

On his appointment, he said:

"I am very excited to reunite with my former colleagues and build an industry-backed disruptor in the UAE property portal space.

"At houza.com, I will work closely with our seasoned team and agency partners on ensuring we delight property seekers and real estate agents alike by being focused on building high quality and exclusive-to-houza content and driving leads."

Houza was co-founded in 2020 by ex-dubizzle and OLX Middle East CEO Barry Judge, with the mission of driving down listing costs for agencies, and only hosting listings from pre-screened agencies.

According to Duabi-based publication ZAWYA, houza.com has seen exponential growth since its inception in 2020, establishing its leadership by being the only property portal in the UAE that is been backed by the industry. Having grown by 1.4 million users over 12 months, the platform has seen a 110% growth in page views since the start of 2022.