The Dubai based startup Nomad Homes has reportedly secured seed round funding of $4 million from the venture division of global media giant Comcast among others. Founded last year by ex-Goldman Sachs investor Helen Chen, Dan Piehler, and early Uber employee Damien Drap, it seems that both the business model as well as the background of Nomad Homes’ leadership is what has attracted investors from Silicon Valley to participate in the round. Comcast Managing Director Damian Gulati commenting on his company’s new investment said:
“Helen and the team bring a unique blend of Silicon Valley DNA, real estate insights and on-the-ground operating experience. We are excited to support Nomad’s quest to deliver a superior experience for all market participants with a technology-first approach.”
Nomad Homes caters to the high-end rental market, and is seeking to digitize the currently fractured and offline Emirati home hunting process. With some commentators predicting more investment from Silicon Valley in property companies, it seems that the valley’s interest was piqued with Kleiner Perkins’ investment in Spotahome in 2018 and now Comcast has followed suit by investing in a company which similarly seeks to fully digitize the rental process for a target market consisting largely of foreign workers and students.
