Bayut

Bayut is a market-leading, UAE-based property website and a part of the Emerging Markets Property Group (EMPG). It hosts real estate listings for residential and commercial properties across the UAE's seven emirates with an extensive inventory from more than 1,200 agencies. 
Additionally, Bayut has detailed content resources for buyers and tenants to conduct further research into their areas of interest. The website also has a popular real estate and lifestyle blog called MyBayut.
History.
Bayut was founded in 2008 by the brothers Zeeshan and Imran Ali Khan, following their success with Zameen.com in Pakistan. Their elder brother Haider Ali Khan remained a strategy adviser to Bayut in its initial years but in 2014 he took up the role of company CEO full-time, following 20 years of experience with global giants such as Goldman Sachs, Silicon Labs and National Instruments. In 2015, Bayut gained additional investors in order to expand into other Gulf states. In 2015, Bayut welcomed industry leaders SeLoger CEO Roland Tripard and Mitula Group Chairman Simon Baker—who has previously headed the REA Group as well as iProperty Group—into its team. In April 2016, Bayut participated in the International Property Show organised by Strategic Marketing & Exhibitions in Dubai. 
After the first few initial rounds of successful funding, Bayut's parent company, EMPG raised substantial funds of $100 million in early 2019, led by KCK Group, a Californian investment company, along with eight other investors, including Exor Seeds. Following this Bayut acquired the Middle East assets of Lamudi and went on to launch their first portal outside the UAE with Bayut.sa. In April 2020, EMPG announced its merger with Netherlands-based OLX Group of its businesses in the MENA region. Following the merger, the Dubai-based classifieds website, dubizzle and OLX portals in Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Pakistan and Oman are operated by EMPG. 
Bayut moved its headquarters from Dubai Internet City to Dubai Design District in 2018.
Services.
Bayut hosts close to 100,000 commercial and residential property listings for sale and rent in the UAE including apartments, villas, townhouses, offices, shops, warehouses and more. Each listing includes information about the features of the property, nearby amenities in the area, floor plans and market trends, as well as a mortgage calculator for properties for sale.
Investment.
Bayut is one of the GCC region's most well-funded tech startup companies. Its parent company, Emerging Markets Property Group, has raised a total of $310 million over several investment rounds. They were backed seasoned investors such as KCK Group and Exor Seeds, fuelling Bayut's expansion and growth in the Middle East.  
In April 2020, EMPG raised $150 million in its latest investment round, taking the group's valuation to $1 billion.
Acquisition and Mergers.
In 2019, Bayut announced the acquisition of Lamudi Middle East, including its assets in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, strengthening its position in the GCC region.
In February 2020, Bayut's parent company, Emerging Markets Property Group, completed its acquisition of Kaidee, the leading online marketplace in Thailand.
In April 2020, EMPG announced its merger with Netherlands-based OLX Group of its businesses in the MENA region. Following the merger, the Dubai-based classifieds website, dubizzle and OLX portals in Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Pakistan and Oman are operated by EMPG.
In May 2020, EMPG announced that it had acquired Lamudi Global, which had assets in the Philippines, Mexico and Indonesia.
Marketing.
Chris Hemsworth starred in a commercial as part of Bayut's biggest marketing campaign, which was launched in September 2019. Along with the video commercial, Bayut also launched radio campaigns featuring the Hollywood star's voice and hoardings on major highways. 
The one-of-a-kind campaign was produced by Ridley Scott Associates (RSA), part of the Ridley Scott Creative Group, and was directed by the two-time Academy Award winner, Robert Stromberg. 
The website's campaign was recognised by the Middle East edition of Campaign as one of the "Top 10 Integrated Campaigns" in 2019.
In April 2019, Bayut hosted the inaugural edition of the Bayut Big Broker Event, also known as B3DXB, bringing together agents, brokers and leaders from the real estate industry in Dubai. The region's first PropTech summit, B3DXB featured industry leaders as speakers and panellists at the event. Bayut also unveiled BayutPro, its app for real estate agents in the UAE, along with features such as TruCheck, SmartLeads and Agent Reviews.
Awards.
In November 2009, Bayut was declared the "Best Property Portal" in CNBC Arabian Property Awards. Bayut won the award for Best Arabian Property Portal and was also nominated as the contender for "World's Best Property Portal" award.
Bayut was also recognised as the "Best Property Portal" by Forbes Middle East in November 2019 for "Transforming the Region's Real Estate Sector".
Bayut's CEO, Haider Ali Khan, won the People's Choice Award for Entrepreneur of the Year at the Arabian Business StartUp Awards in 2018.
In 2020, Bayut's Director of Marketing, Sahar Khan, won the "Storyteller Award for Top Marketing and Communications Executives" by Forbes Middle East, for her leadership in Bayut's marketing initiatives including the campaign featuring Chris Hemsworth and the Bayut Big Broker Event 2019.