Stake was founded in Dubai in 2020 by Rami Tabbara and Manar Mahmassani, who are co-chief executives, and Ricardo Brizido, the chief technology officer. Tabbara came from Dubai property sales at DAMAC, Mahmassani from investment banking and Brizido from the crowdfunding platform Seedrs.

How much funding has Stake raised?

$58 million in total: a $4 million seed in 2021, an $8 million pre-Series A in 2022, a $14 million Series A led by MEVP in 2024 and a $31 million Series B led by Emirates NBD in February 2026, with Mubadala, Property Finder and Aramco's Wa'ed Ventures among the investors.

Who Is Behind Stake? Rami Tabbara, Manar Mahmassani and Ricardo Brizido

Stake, the largest platform on the Threeworld index by number of properties, was founded in Dubai by three people: Rami Tabbara and Manar Mahmassani, who share the chief executive role, and Ricardo Brizido, the chief technology officer. It is one of the few fractional platforms with a licence from a financial regulator that you can look up, and one of the best funded, with $58 million raised by early 2026. This page covers who the founders are, how the company was licensed and funded, and where to check.

“Two co-CEOs, a DFSA licence from 2020 and a bank-led Series B.”By Dean Shaked · Updated October 24, 2026

Table of contents

The Founders

Rami Tabbara is co-founder and co-chief executive. He spent more than 15 years in Dubai real estate before Stake, most recently as senior vice president of sales at DAMAC Properties, according to an Entrepreneur Middle East interview from April 2022. TechCrunch's coverage of the company the same year described his background the same way. Manar Mahmassani is the other co-founder and co-chief executive. The same Entrepreneur Middle East interview describes him as having spent over 15 years in investment banking at Deutsche Bank and Falcon Group. That is a single published source, so treat the detail as his own account rather than an independently confirmed record. Ricardo Brizido is co-founder and chief technology officer. Before Stake he built digital businesses, most recently at the equity crowdfunding platform Seedrs, per the 2022 interview. All three are consistently named as the founders across TechCrunch, Wamda and the Mubadala press release for the 2026 round. Stake does not currently publish a team page of its own.

Where the Company Came From

Stake was founded in Dubai in 2020 and opened to investors in January 2021. The regulator's record is the firm date: the Dubai Financial Services Authority licensed Stake Properties Limited on 1 November 2020 to operate a property investment crowdfunding platform, with a retail endorsement, meaning it can serve ordinary investors rather than professionals only. The founders' pitch was that Dubai property is a strong income market that most people cannot get into because the entry ticket is a whole apartment. In the 2022 interview Tabbara said there were many barriers that prevent everyday investors from participating in this asset class, and Mahmassani said the real estate market can be quite opaque, so the company is big on transparency. The product that came out of that is a share in a single Dubai apartment from AED 500.

What They Built and How It Is Regulated

When you invest on Stake you buy shares in a special purpose vehicle registered in the Dubai International Financial Centre that holds the Dubai Land Department title deed to the property, and a share certificate in your name sits on the DIFC public register. Stake Properties Limited is regulated by the DFSA as an operator of a property investment crowdfunding platform, and a separate entity, Stake Financial Technology Company, is licensed by Saudi Arabia's Capital Market Authority for the Saudi funds launched in late 2024. The platform page on Threeworld lists Stake's fees to buy, hold and sell, its exit options and the help centre pages they come from.

Funding and Milestones

Stake has raised four rounds, each announced publicly. • June 2021: a $4 million seed round, reported by Wamda, from a group of Gulf property and venture investors. • August 2022: an $8 million pre-Series A from BY Ventures, MEVP and Vivium Holdings, reported by TechCrunch. • June 2024: a $14 million Series A led by MEVP, joined by Wa'ed Ventures, the Aramco venture arm, Mubadala and Republic, taking the total raised to $26 million, per TechCrunch and Gulf Business. • February 2026: a $31 million Series B led by Emirates NBD, with the Mubadala MENA venture fund, MEVP, Property Finder, STV, Wa'ed Ventures, GFH Partners and Ellington Properties, reported by Wamda and in a Mubadala press release. Total raised: $58 million. Along the way Stake became the first CMA-regulated platform in Saudi Arabia open to global investors in late 2024, launched StakeOne and US industrial property in October 2025, and by October 2026 reported more than 600 properties funded, 20 fully exited and over AED 31 million of rental income paid out, all figures from its own site.

What to Check Yourself

Start with the DFSA public register. Search for Stake Properties Limited and you will find the licence date, the activities it is permitted to carry out and the retail endorsement. If the entry ever shows a restriction or a withdrawal, that is the first place it will appear. For the Saudi side, the Capital Market Authority publishes its list of licensed fintech firms. Then check the SPV for any property you are considering. Stake's help centre explains that the DIFC registrar lists each vehicle, and your share certificate is what you would rely on if the platform disappeared. Threeworld found no regulatory action, fine or lawsuit involving Stake or its founders. One third-party blog collects investor complaints about waiting one to four weeks to sell on the secondary market and occasional payout delays of a few days. It is a single unverified source, but the underlying point is sound: Stake's exit windows are real windows, and the liquidity page explains how they work.

Questions people ask

Who founded Stake?: Stake was founded in Dubai in 2020 by Rami Tabbara and Manar Mahmassani, who are co-chief executives, and Ricardo Brizido, the chief technology officer. Tabbara came from Dubai property sales at DAMAC, Mahmassani from investment banking and Brizido from the crowdfunding platform Seedrs.
Is Stake regulated?: Yes. The Dubai Financial Services Authority licensed Stake Properties Limited on 1 November 2020 to operate a property investment crowdfunding platform, with a retail endorsement. Its Saudi funds run through Stake Financial Technology Company, licensed by Saudi Arabia's Capital Market Authority.
How much funding has Stake raised?: $58 million in total: a $4 million seed in 2021, an $8 million pre-Series A in 2022, a $14 million Series A led by MEVP in 2024 and a $31 million Series B led by Emirates NBD in February 2026, with Mubadala, Property Finder and Aramco's Wa'ed Ventures among the investors.

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