Sekra targets GCC with lifestyle-led rental model

Backed by high-profile global investors and led by Habitas Founder Oliver Ripley, Sekra is rolling out a new residential concept in the GCC that blends design, technology and hospitality-style operations to create community-focused rental living for a highly transient, expatriate-led market.

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THE GCC’s rapidly evolving residential sector is poised for a significant shift with the introduction of Sekra, a lifestyle-driven rental brand founded by Oliver Ripley. Best known for co-founding Habitas, Ripley is now applying his experience in experiential hospitality to urban living, choosing the Gulf as a launchpad for what he describes as a category-defining residential platform.

Launched in the UAE in February 2026, the model aims to redefine rental living by prioritising human connection, wellbeing and experiential design over simple square footage. At a time when close to 80 per cent of adults under 40 rent, Sekra’s proposition is to turn residential assets into branded, lifestyle-led communities - delivering premium rental performance and deeper tenant loyalty for owners while giving residents a genuine sense of belonging.

Launched with Uber Founder Travis Kalanick as founding investor and board member, Sekra has raised a $12.5 million seed round co-led by Brendan Wallace of Fifth Wall and Joe Lonsdale of 8VC, alongside a global cohort of strategic backers including Jamie Reuben of Reuben Brothers, Mitchell Moinian of The Moinian Group, serial tech entrepreneur Divyank Turakhia, the family office of Prince Khalid Bin Talal Alsaud, Harvey Spevak of Equinox, and Patrick Finnegan of Second Sight Ventures, amongst others.

In an exclusive interview with Gulf Construction's BINA GOVEAS, Ripley explains why the GCC represents a compelling starting point. Across cities such as Dubai, Riyadh and Doha, rapid urbanisation has produced a predominantly expatriate and highly mobile population, many of whom are young professionals living away from extended family networks, arriving without established social connections. Traditional rental developments, designed primarily around efficiency and maximising square footage, have not kept pace with these social shifts.