UAE-Based estaie Wraps Up Seven-Figure Pre-Seed Funding Round

UAE-based extended-stay platform estaie has raised a seven-figure pre-seed funding round led by the MENA early-stage venture capital (VC) firm Plus VC and global venture capital firm Orbit Ventures, with participation from Riyadh-based angel investment platform Falak Angels, Saudi-based venture builder Value Makers Studio (VMS), and Bulgaria-based early-stage investor Vasil Zdravkov. 

Founded by Osama Shawky, Mark Reed, and Nimit Solanki in the UAE in 2025, estaie is an artificial intelligence (AI)-native platform that enables users to search, compare, and book extended stays across hotels, serviced apartments, and holiday homes with optimized, data-driven pricing. It operates at the intersection of hospitality, real estate, and corporate travel, targeting a segment that sits between short-term hotel stays and long-term residential leasing, bringing all furnished accommodation types into a single system designed for longer-term bookings. 

In an interview with Inc. Arabia, Shawky explained how estaie came into being in response to the underlying inefficiencies shaping the segment. “Today, extended stays—anything beyond short-term hotel bookings—are not served," Shawky pointed out. "Customers are forced into manual negotiations, limited short-stay platforms, or inconsistent alternatives. At the same time, hotels and property operators struggle to price and distribute this inventory effectively. estaie was built from the ground up to solve this.” 

estaie’s technology, which has been is developed in-house and us supported by three pending patents, focuses on improving pricing visibility, inventory utilization, and booking efficiency in the extended-stay segment. Since its inception, estaie has onboarded more than 400 hotels and 1,000 holiday homes through regional agreements, while facilitating more than 3,000 room nights with month-over-month growth of 17–18 percent. The capital it has raised now is set to support estaie’s expansion from the UAE across the region, starting with Saudi Arabia. 

But estaie’s long-term roadmap extends beyond its current marketplace, with plans to expand its role across the value chain. It has already established a unified platform for discovering and booking extended stays, and it is now building an operating layer for supply partners that incorporates dynamic pricing, adaptive inventory systems, and revenue optimization tools. In the longer term, estaie aims to evolve into a global infrastructure layer for extended stays, enabling both hospitality and real estate players to serve a new category of demand. 

That ambition is rooted in how estaie has been built from the ground up. “When I say estaie is AI-native, I mean AI is not something we added later—it’s built into the core of how the company operates from day one," Shawky noted. "We're solving a very complex problem. Extended stay sits between hospitality, real estate, and corporate travel, but these industries were never designed to work together. Hotels think in terms of nightly rates, real estate in yearly leases, and corporate travel in short trips. So, the system breaks. What we’ve done at estaie is build a completely new layer—powered by AI—that connects these worlds into one seamless experience.” 

estaie has thus embedded AI across pricing, inventory management, demand matching, user experience, and operations, enabling processes that traditionally relied on manual work and estimation to function as a fully automated, data-driven system in real time. Having that infrastructure in place has also enabled the company to layer new models on top of it. “A good example of how AI enables new models is [our offering called] 'Flexi estaie,'" Shawky shared. "Instead of booking one property at a time, customers can commit to an annual housing plan within a category—economy to ultra-luxury—and move freely between properties. So, you’re no longer tied to a single unit or location. That level of flexibility simply wouldn’t work without an AI engine constantly managing availability, pricing, and transitions in the background.”  

For Shawky, this direction reflects a broader ambition he and his team have for the company.  “What we’re building is not just a booking platform," he said. "We are building the first AI-native extended stay engine globally—a system that connects hospitality and real estate, creates a new category of demand, and delivers better economics for both sides. And importantly, we’re able to do this with a very lean team because AI handles the complexity—studying every interaction, reducing errors, and continuously improving the experience.” 

The estaie platform.

estaie’s fundraise comes at a time of heightened uncertainty across the MENA region, though, as Shawky pointed out, its underlying fundamentals remain strong. “Historically, the Middle East has operated in a dynamic environment," he said. "Despite that, it remains one of the fastest-growing economic regions globally, with strong fundamentals across key markets. For the countries where estaie operates—or plans to expand into—it has largely been business as usual. We have not seen any direct impact on our operations or fundraising from the broader noise in the region. What we are seeing is not a slowdown in capital—it’s a shift in investor mindset. Investors today are prioritizing real revenue, clear, scalable business models, [and] infrastructure-driven platforms. This actually works in our favor. estaie is not positioned as a speculative growth story—we are building a fundamental layer in a large and growing market, which becomes even more attractive in uncertain times.” 

Indeed, from Shawky's standpoint, the current shift in investor mindset aligns with the nature of the opportunity estaie is pursuing—one shaped by long-term market shifts, rather than short-term conditions. "The demand we are addressing is structural and global," he explaoined. "Extended stay is one of the fastest-growing segments in hospitality, projected to reach US$144 billion by 2035. This demand exists in every major city globally, regardless of regional dynamics. estaie was built from day one as a global platform, not dependent on a single geography. As a founding team, we bring experience in navigating multiple cycles—from global financial crises, to COVID-19, and other market disruptions. This gives us a clear advantage: we build with resilience and adaptability in mind, not just growth. In fact, our current focus reflects that confidence. We are preparing to launch in 10+ cities in the coming months, which demonstrates our ability to scale even in uncertain environments.” 

But Shawky acknowledges that current market conditions are reshaping what it takes for entrepreneurs to succeed in the region. “The reality is—it’s not easy," he said. "But it’s not supposed to be. If building a company was easy, everyone would do it. The truth is, most ideas don’t fail because they are bad—they fail because of poor execution. I would say more than 90 percent never make it past that stage. What’s happening in the region today is actually positive for serious founders. We’re moving into a phase where capital is more disciplined, investors are more selective, and only businesses with real fundamentals stand out. This creates a strong opportunity for entrepreneurs who are building real, scalable solutions, not just ideas.” 

For Shawky, building a company in this environment comes down to a couple of fundamentals. “There are a few principles I’ve learned over the years that matter more than anything else," he shared. "Cash is oxygen; so, you have to stay extremely focused on cash flow and runway. No matter how strong your vision is, if you run out of cash, the company stops. You also need to build for resilience from day one. Your product should be able to survive under any circumstances, whether market shifts, economic pressure, or external uncertainty. If your business only works in perfect conditions, it won’t last. Plus, execution beats everything. Ideas are everywhere, but execution is rare. You need a team that can think clearly, move fast, and deliver consistently, not a team that slows things down or debates endlessly. At the same time, you have to build with clarity and control.” 

Shawky emphasized the need for entrepreneurs to stay close to their businesses as they grow. “As a founder, you need full clarity on your business model, your numbers, and your direction," he said. "When you have that level of control, it shows, and investors don’t just invest in the idea, they invest in their confidence that you can execute and deliver. If you can manage these fundamentals—cash, resilience, execution, and clarity—you position yourself to build something that lasts, and in this environment, those are exactly the companies that will win.” 

Pictured in the lead image are estaie co-founders Osama Shawky, Mark Reed, and Nimit Solanki. All images courtesy estaie.