OUR FOUNDER OF THE WEEK- Every Tuesday, Founder of the Week looks at how a successful member of Egypt’s startup community got their big break, asks about their experiences running a business, and gets their advice for budding entrepreneurs. Speaking to us this week is Nadim Nagui (LinkedIn), co-founder and CEO of Partment.

My name is Nadim Nagui and I’m the co-founder and CEO of Partment. My company offers a new concept: A way to customize your real estate investment by having a digital platform that offers zero-hassle second home ownership. We provide people the chance to co-own second homes in prime locations at a fraction of the price while providing an end-to-end property management service.

My educational background is actually in engineering, of all things. After I graduated from Virginia Tech with a degree in Industrial Engineering, there was this sudden trend of people going into consulting, which made me eager to pursue the same thing. But I soon realized it wasn’t what I expected it to be, so I moved back to Egypt. I then got yet another chance to work in a consultancy firm in Germany but due to military conscription issues, it didn’t pan out.

I don’t have hard feelings about that chance falling through. Instead, I opted for the traditional family business route. Working with my father at the time provided me with a lot of insight into the business industry that later helped me.

Around that time I landed a position at Uber and that completely transformed my career. It was early 2014 when Uber had just launched in Egypt. I had used the app a few times when I was in the US but I knew that it was the most funded startup in the world, so to me it was a big break. Ironically, though, it’s also the job that pushed me towards entrepreneurship. I felt like my hands were tied and that I didn’t have space for experimenting, and I enjoy the idea of organizing chaos and making something out of it.

The story of Partment started when I was looking at one of the up-and-coming vacation homes in a compound near the Red Sea. The first thing that came to mind was that this equally can be both an investment — because it will appreciate over time — as well as a vacation home. Still, the property was very expensive and five hours away, and when I crunched the numbers, I realized the house would be mostly vacant for 11 months unless I were to go through the hassle of renting it out.

To me, it’s not a balanced investment to spend so much money on a property you will use a few weeks a year. Usually, people bring someone they trust or know to share the house — and that’s what I did. I started with a friend where we bought a property and split it in half including utilities, days, maintenance, etc.

That’s when it clicked. I took two months off from work to research the market, because I saw that I wasn’t the only one who was interested in this type of investment. It was also at a time when hybrid work setups became more common, so people could work from home — even if it’s a vacation home.

We’re not replacing owning or renting a vacation home — we’re offering the community another option. Accessibility to a second home or a vacation home is something I strongly believe in,and this is what I’m trying to solve or make more accessible in Partment.

Instead of wasting your money renting every year, you can accumulate your money to buy a share and let it appreciate over time and sell it whenever — and then invest in another property without fully committing. Now you have a vacation home on the back of a real estate foundation that gives you a seamless experience. But for the co-ownership idea to succeed we had to focus on three key issues: Legality, as in who owns what; a system to govern who goes when; and the framework for property management, meaning who’s responsible for design, furnishing, utilities, cleaning, maintenance, etc.

The way Partment works is very seamless and eliminates the hassle of a lot of things. We acquire a property based on location and demand. We completely redesign the house’s interior and exterior starting from the landscape, artwork, and bedding right down to the cutlery. Through fractional ownership, co-owners access a set number of nights for personal use or rentals, managed by Partment’s Smart Booking System, with comprehensive property management and potential returns upon divestment.

We pick our properties based on seasonal accessibility and proximity. This is why we expanded out of Egypt to Athens first due to its proximity as well as popularity with Egyptians and Egyptian investors. The real estate market there has been extremely stable and is equally rewarding for investors when they sell or rent their property in EUR.

The three key performance indicators (KPIs) I consistently monitor aregrowth metrics, customer satisfaction, and cashflow. These indicators hold significant importance, especially considering our status as an early-stage startup. Tracking growth, assessing customer satisfaction through NPS, and maintaining a close eye on our cashflow is critical for our strategic decision-making and long-term success.

For our short to mid term plan, we’re aiming to target expats who come to Cairo to visit family or are interested in Cairo to buy houses and invest in Egyptian real estate.

As for expansion, Athens is the first step but not the last: We’re aiming to expand in the MENA region as well as southern Europe. But our more immediate concept is bringing together Partment co-owners to encourage the idea of swapping properties.

At present, Partment has closed at USD 1.5 mn in a pre-seed round in September 2022, led by Nclude, Plus Venture Capital, and a renowned list of Angel investors including Emil Michael.

When I am not working I like building my Lego collection and sports. I live between three homes and in each household you’ll find some of my Legos there — I’ve been doing it for the past 30 years. I’ve even been forcing my son to love it also because it’s a great toy for building. The biggest one I’ve done so far is a 3k-piece model of a rocket. I’ve also loved playing sports, specifically football — I’ve been playing it all my life — but sadly with Partment I haven’t had much time to focus on it. I also enjoy traveling, which was also part of the inspiration for starting Partment.

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