Saleh Al Ghamdi on rebuilding fractional real estate around an app, a registry link, and a SAR 1k entry

Fractional real estate used to be manual, limited to a handful of co-buyers, and dependent on agreements with strangers up front. Saleh Al Ghamdi co-founded Ghanem to fix that: Mobile apps linked directly to the real estate registry, with governance handled by formal votes and entry from SAR 1k. In about a year and a half, the proptech went from no product to two apps, thousands of users, and revenues in the mns, and raised USD 8.6 mn across its pre-seed round and extension.

Saleh Al Ghamdi, CEO and co-founder of Ghanem: Each week, My Morning Routine looks at how a successful member of the community starts their day — and then throws in a couple of random business questions just for fun. Speaking to us this week is Saleh Al Ghamdi (LinkedIn), CEO and co-founder of Ghanem. Edited excerpts from our conversation:

Enterprise: Walk us through your journey, from content creation to investment.

Saleh Al Ghamdi (SG): My first jobs were in content, sales, and events, and then I started a marketing agency in 2015, which I exited two years later. Running it gave me a clear view of how the market operates, and I could see that technology-enabled sectors were going to boom, so I decided to focus on building and investing in businesses that use technology to scale. I’m a marketing person by education, but I later earned licenses and education in investment, leadership, and real estate.

My co-founder and I have angel-invested in more than 20 technology-enabled businesses. It’s like an MBA without the degree. You see founders’ challenges up close and learn a lot from them. I’m passionate about fractional real estate, but building a successful business matters more to me than building one I’m passionate about.

E: What drew you to Saudi fractional real estate, and how did you build Ghanem?

SG: The idea for Ghanem came from noticing that owning real estate with other people already existed in Saudi Arabia, but it wasn’t scalable or smooth. You had to do it manually, with a limited number of people, and with a lot of paperwork. You had to find your co-buyers and agree on everything with them in advance.

The problem wasn’t the idea itself, but the user journey, which was broken. That led to Ghanem: Moving it to a mobile app, connecting it directly to the real estate registry, and putting the regulatory side and governance into a formal vote. Saudis love investing in real estate, and when we let them do it from SAR 1k, they jumped at it. We run two apps, both owned by Ghanem. One focuses on re-renting, and the other, Ghanem, is for fractional ownership.

E: What were the biggest challenges that faced you during that development?

SG: The first one we faced was credibility, as people needed to know that Ghanem is a real business with a real moat, and that the company can deliver when it comes to deed issuance, and this was handled. The second is still in progress, and it’s regulatory. We need trading and exits, and to let non-Saudis invest, and to face the usual sandbox limitations. That’s the norm when you join a sandbox, and I think we’ll resolve these within the next few weeks.

E: You’ve raised about USD 8.6 mn across your pre-seed round and extension. Where’s that money being directed?

SG: Multi-pronged growth is the headline for the next stage: The first target is to expand the product, which means trading and early exit, and opening investment to non-Saudis, businesses, funds, and family offices, each requiring new products and features. Second, we need to scale the organization so we can serve more investors and source more high-quality supply. We have a runway of two to three years, but the funding still matters for credibility. We also need the right people, supply, proper due diligence, and AI to automate our processes.

E: You’ve also talked about reaching SAR 1 bn in assets under management within five years. How do you plan to get there?

SG: Compared to the size of the market, SAR 1 bn is small, so it’s doable. It takes a snowball effect: the right investors bring the right supply, the right supply brings more investors, and the right talent builds the right product. All of that adds up to SAR 1 bn in AUM.

It’s also about quality, not just the number. Reaching SAR 1 bn in high-quality assets is far harder than reaching SAR 500 mn, or even SAR 2 bn, in lower-quality ones. That first SAR 1 bn is what will drive our next phase. There are a lot of low-quality assets we don’t want to work with, which is why we’re doubling down on sourcing.

E: What are the biggest obstacles facing fractional real estate and PropTech in Saudi Arabia then?

SG: The sector is already booming and moving in the right direction. A few small changes from us and the regulator would make a big difference: Allowing trading, including global trading, and letting non-Saudi and non-Muqeem investors invest through an automated journey. We can reach SAR 1 bn with today’s setup, but if we allow non-Saudis, corporates, and global trading, we’ll go well beyond it. Allowing off-plan would also help. Investors love buying off-plan, and it isn’t part of our offering today.

E: What do your days look like?

SG: I wake up at 6 or 7am and spend time with my family. I go to the gym about three days a week, then head to the office at 8:30 or 9. The first three hours are focused work, and the rest of the day is for the team, working through problems. We don’t want idle days where nothing moves, so I spend time daily with the product, marketing, sales, operations, and customer care teams to make sure everyone is communicating and scheduling things. We usually finish by 6 or 7pm, and then I go home to my family. One challenge in our sector is that real estate people work at night, so I stay connected to the office in the evening. I sleep at 11pm.

E: What are you listening to or reading right now?

SG: I like the Stanford podcast, View From the Top, which interviews global leaders at the business school. Every week they host interesting leaders to talk about their businesses and journeys.