APPTSUMMIT 2026 Speaker Spotlight: Ahmed Sobhe on “Real Estate Exports” — Selling African Property to the World With VR and AI

When Coldwell Banker Egypt unveiled Meta Egypt in May 2023, it was billed as the country’s first virtual-reality property platform — built with 3D marketplace specialist Estate Waves and launching with more than 450 projects and 30,000 residential, commercial and administrative units from over 100 of Egypt’s largest developers. Its founder and CEO, Ahmed Sobhe, framed the ambition from the start as “real estate exports”: letting buyers anywhere in the world walk through an Egyptian development in full 360 degrees before committing. By Cityscape Egypt 2024 the platform held data on roughly half of the country’s active projects, and it is now evolving into Habitar, an AI-powered PropTech and investment platform.

On 13 October Sobhe will be in Lagos for APPTSUMMIT 2026, the inaugural Africa PropTech Priority Summit, speaking on the intersection of AI, immersive visualisation and cross-border property investment. Ahead of the summit, Property News Africa — the event’s Official Digital Media Partner — asked him how the model was built, what developers measure before paying for virtual sales tools, and what it would take to bring the approach to Nigeria. His answers, lightly edited, are below.

In conversation with Ahmed Sobhe

Tell us about Meta Egypt and its evolution into Habitar. What problem did you set out to solve, and where is the platform today?

Meta Egypt launched with the strategic backing of Coldwell Banker Egypt to bridge the gap between traditional property marketing and immersive digital buying experiences. Today, Meta Egypt has evolved into Habitar, positioning itself as the premier PropTech and investment platform powered by AI. We set out to solve the fragmentation in real estate discovery and transparency, providing interactive 360-degree virtual tours and data-driven insights that connect developers directly with serious buyers globally.

How did you win early developer adoption, and what do developers actually measure to decide whether virtual sales tools are worth paying for?

Winning early adoption came down to demonstrating tangible ROI and trust, heavily reinforced by our partnership with Coldwell Banker. Developers ultimately measure success through qualified lead conversion rates, sales velocity and the reduction of friction in the sales cycle — specifically how effectively 3D and virtual tools accelerate decisions for remote or busy buyers.

You’ve talked about “real estate exports” — using VR to sell Egyptian property to buyers abroad. Where is international demand coming from?

Real estate exports are a cornerstone of our vision. By leveraging immersive VR tours, we enable diaspora communities and international investors to explore and transact seamlessly from anywhere in the world. Key international demand currently flows from Gulf markets, Europe and North America, significantly expanding the buyer pool for Egyptian developers.

How are you using AI on top of your project data, and what could a similar layer do for a market like Nigeria?

With data covering a massive share of active projects, we deploy AI to analyse market trends, predict property valuations and match buyers with ideal investment opportunities. In markets like Nigeria, where structured project data can be scarce, introducing an intelligent, data-backed layer can transform market transparency, instil investor confidence and streamline property discovery.

What would it take to bring this model to other African markets, and what are you hoping to learn in Lagos?

Bringing this model to markets like Nigeria requires forming strong local alliances with established brokerages and developers who understand the regulatory landscape. At APPTSUMMIT 2026 in Lagos, I am eager to understand local buyer behaviours, connect with visionary African PropTech founders, and explore how collaborative digital infrastructure can scale across the continent.

What will you be covering at APPTSUMMIT 2026, and what should attendees take away?

In my session, I will be covering the intersection of AI, immersive visualisation and cross-border property investment — “real estate exports”. Attendees should take away actionable strategies on how technology can unlock liquidity, scale sales beyond physical borders and future-proof real estate portfolios.

At a glance: Ahmed Sobhe and Meta Egypt (Habitar)

About Ahmed Sobhe

Ahmed Sobhe is a technology entrepreneur, software engineer and public-sector consultant who works across government digital transformation and private-sector startups in the MENA region. He is the founder and CEO of Habitar, the AI-powered PropTech and investment platform that grew out of Meta Egypt, built on interactive 360-degree virtual tours and advanced property data. His earlier ventures include founding Estate Waves, where he led pilot initiatives with the Dubai Land Department and structured international integrations, and building Maisonette, which was acquired by ADFG. In the public sector he serves as Assistant Consultant to the Minister for National Projects in Egypt, overseeing the information systems and digital transformation portfolio, including national digital-health initiatives. He has been selected as a featured speaker in the scale-up track of the Innovation Challenge at Cityscape Global 2026 in Riyadh. An engineer at heart, his technical work spans web application frameworks, Web3 and metaverse property solutions, OCR and serverless edge deployment; he has travelled to more than 40 countries and is an enthusiast of classical and contemporary Arabic poetry.

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