Dubai-Based Takeem Secures Strategic Backing From The UAE's Dubizzle Group

Dubizzle Group, the UAE-born operator of online property and automotive classifieds platforms across the MENA region, has announced a strategic partnership and investment in the Dubai-headquartered proptech startup, Takeem. The deal will see Dubizzle Group’s real estate marketplaces, Bayut and dubizzle, become the exclusive property portals for Takeem's rental guarantee solution across the UAE.  

Founded by Rakesh Mavath and Pooja Vithlani in the UAE in 2023, Takeem develops technology aimed at reducing uncertainty throughout the rental process. Its certified rental guarantee solution, which Takeem bills as the first of its kind in the GCC, protects landlords against tenant payment defaults, while providing tenants the option to pay rent through monthly digital direct debit installments, as well as emergency maintenance coverage for urgent property repairs. In an interview with Inc. Arabia, Mavath, co-founder and CEO of Takeem, shared how his company emerged from firsthand experience with long-standing pain points in the rental market.  

"The idea came from a problem the founders had each lived from opposite sides—a landlord chasing rent that hadn't arrived, and a tenant fighting to get a deposit back,” Mavath shared. “The same broken handshake, just different ends of it. It kept leading to the same conclusion: the UAE rental market didn't need another app; it needed trust that could actually be enforced. Despite its scale and sophistication, the market was still running on post-dated checks and unprotected income; mechanisms that create anxiety for landlords and friction for tenants. That is the gap Takeem's mission addresses: to build the trust layer for the property ecosystem, the infrastructure that lets landlords, tenants and agents transact with confidence. Its first product, the Takeem Rental Guarantee, is the GCC's first certified rent guarantee solution, protecting landlords against non-payment, while including emergency maintenance cover for tenants.”  

According to Mavath, it was this proposition that not only fueled Takeem's growth, but also attracted the backing of Dubizzle Group, a decision he attributed to three key factors. “First, the product solves a real, structural problem: income uncertainty is one of the biggest concerns for landlords in this market, and rental guarantee addresses it directly with insurance-backed protection,” Mavath explained. “Second, the traction spoke for itself; we have onboarded over 100,000 units and seen client onboarding grow by 900 percent over the past two months, which demonstrated genuine market pull. Third, and perhaps most importantly, there was a clear alignment of vision around trust and transparency as the foundation of the rental market. In periods of uncertainty, products that create security and predictability become more valuable. The UAE property market has continued to demonstrate remarkable resilience and depth, and solutions that protect income and reduce risk are precisely what give landlords and investors the confidence to keep participating in it." 

Surya Raviganesh, Vice President of Corporate Development at Dubizzle Group Ventures.

Dubizzle Group made the investment in Takeem through Dubizzle Group Ventures, its early-stage arm that backs technology entrepreneurs building around its marketplaces in the GCC. Surya Raviganesh, Vice President of Corporate Development at Dubizzle Group Ventures, told Inc. Arabia that the continued digitization of the UAE's rental market has created the right environment for solutions like Takeem to emerge. "The UAE rental journey can increasingly now be handled online—search, payments, and the protection around the tenancy itself,” he noted. “But this isn't really about customer behavior changing. Security of rental income has always been front of mind for landlords; what's new is that we can finally address it properly in a digital way. Takeem does exactly that. And because a landlord's income is now protected, some will be comfortable offering rent on a monthly basis, which in turn improves affordability for tenants. Tenants also benefit from cover for urgent maintenance issues, adding a further layer of reassurance. As the market continues to digitize, closing this long-standing gap now is simply the natural next step." 

For startups now hoping to replicate Takeem's success with Dubizzle Group, Raviganesh outlined the qualities he and his team look for in prospective partners. “Through Dubizzle Group Ventures, we actively seek aspirational founders building scalable, innovative businesses that create value around our marketplaces. With half the UAE's population using one of our platforms each month, there are meaningful synergies for the right partner. Founders solving a genuine problem for our users, as Takeem has, are always welcome to approach us. We engage closely with the regional startup and proptech community, and we are equally open to founders reaching out directly. The pitches that stand out are concise, honest about the stage of the business, and specific about why the partnership makes sense for our users or customers. If you can show us traction, a clear problem, and a credible team, you will get our attention.” 

For his part, Mavath highlighted that both Takeem and Dubizzle Group approached the partnership with a broader objective than simply expanding their respective businesses. "The beauty of the partnership with Dubizzle Group is a shared belief that it doesn't need to be zero-sum,” he said. “If a product only works when someone else loses, it isn't the right product. Landlords, tenants, agents, regulators—and, most importantly, the UAE itself—all have to come out ahead. That is the standard worth building to." Mavath also outlined what he believes entrepreneurs building proptech businesses in the region should prioritize. "For founders building in MENA proptech, the advice is simple: solve a real structural problem in how property transactions actually work,” he said. “The opportunities here are in the fundamentals—the friction points people have lived with for years. Engage regulators early, build something that genuinely addresses one of those gaps, and partner with the platforms that already reach the market so your solution can get to scale." 

Looking to the long term, Mavath predicted that the next phase of proptech innovation in the MENA region will center on everything that happens after a property has been found. "Discovery will always be the foundation of proptech, and the critical portals Bayut and dubizzle provide remain at the center of how people find property in this market,” Mavath noted. “What's evolving is everything that complements discovery: making the transaction that follows more secure, seamless, and intelligent. Protection and risk transfer, digital payments, and data-driven trust are all layers that sit on top of that core discovery experience and make it more complete. The markets that move fastest will be the ones, like the UAE, where regulators actively support innovation and digital adoption is already high." 

Pictured in the lead image is Takeem co-founder and CEO Rakesh Mavath. All images courtesy Takeem/Dubizzle Group.