A new artificial intelligence platform aims to solve one of Dubai’s real estate market’s most persistent challenges: lack of transparency in billion-dollar transactions for both buyers and investors.
Daleel, launched Wednesday at Prop Tech Connect Dubai, announced it has raised $3 million in pre-seed funding to build what its founders call an “intelligence layer” for Gulf Cooperation Council property markets. The round from a prominent regional real estate investor marks the largest pre-seed investment for an AI-native real estate company in the GCC.
AI driven solutions for buyers
The platform claims to address a gap that co-founder Ilan Cohen experienced firsthand during five years selling Dubai properties. Despite closing more than AED 450 million in transactions, Cohen said he couldn’t give buyers straightforward answers about fair pricing without hours of manual research across government records and multiple listing portals.
“I couldn’t give buyers a straight answer on whether the price was fair,” Ilan said. “I’d spend hours pulling government records, cross-referencing three different listing portals, and manually building analyses. The data existed. Connecting it all still took hours.”
Daleel, Arabic for guide or proof, combines official Dubai Land Department transaction records with live listings from major portals through a conversational AI interface. Users can ask questions like:
What’s my expected net return if I buy this unit and rent at current market rates?
Official data gives the platform credibility
The platform uses official verified government data to give answers rather than simply give price estimates. Operating under the Dubai Land Department’s Real Estate Evolution Space program, giving it access to historical transaction data including sale prices, rental contracts from Ejari, mortgage registrations and construction progress. It launched with 1.6 million verified sales transactions, 8.4 million rental contracts and 874,000 live listings.
“We’re building the intelligence layer for GCC real estate,” Ilan said. “Every transaction, every rental contract, every mortgage. Unified, verified, and accessible through conversation. Dubai is where we start. The Gulf is where we’re going.”
Not just a database, an AI architecture with machine learning
Co-founder Ely Weichsel, who spent over a decade building AI platforms for Fortune 500 companies, said Daleel’s architecture differs from competitors who added AI features to existing listing databases.
“We didn’t add AI to a listing database,” said Ely. “We built the architecture from the ground up for machine learning. The data model is designed for AI reasoning, with relationships between properties, transactions, developers, and buildings. That’s fundamentally different from a searchable inventory.”
Expansion plans go beyond Dubai
The GCC real estate market represents over $300 billion in annual transactions. Daleel plans to expand from Dubai to Abu Dhabi and other emirates, then into Saudi Arabia as the Kingdom implements new laws allowing foreign property ownership starting January 2026.
“Saudi is at an inflection point,” Ilan said. “New ownership laws, government pushing digital transformation, and no dominant platform yet. The incumbents are trying to replicate their UAE playbook with listing databases plus AI features. We’re coming in AI native with government data integration from day one. That’s a different product entirely.”
After a two-month closed beta with licensed agents and institutional investors, Daleel is offering its first 100 subscribers founding member pricing. The funding will support product development, mobile apps and regional expansion across the Gulf.