Background: Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a major complication of type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM). Screening for DN must be initiated once diagnosis of DM is confirmed. Persistent albuminuria is a hallmark of DN, while the risk for developing DN starts when urine albumin excretion (UAE) values are still within the normoalbuminuric range. Objective: The aim of this study was to assess serum endocan as a novel predictive marker for early detection of DN in T2DM and to investigate whether its level was parallel to the severity of DN as assessed by the degree of albuminuria. Methodology: The study included 60 patients with T2DM, were divided into three groups of normo, micro and macro albuminuria. They were compared to 20 controls. Endocan level in serum was measured by ELISA. Results: Serum endocan was increased in all patients compared to controls, and in macro and microalbuminuria compared to normoalbuminuria groups. Serum endocan was positively correlated with duration of DM, fasting blood glucose (FBG), hemoglobin (Hb) A1C, creatinine and urine albumin creatinine ratio (UACR), and negatively correlated with estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis revealed that serum endocan has the highest diagnostic performance in discriminating between normoalbuminuria group and control group. Conclusion: Serum endocan was elevated early in patients with normoalbuminuria and its increase was parallel to the increase in UACR. Therefore, serum endocan may be used as a predictive marker for early detection of DN in T2DM and in monitoring of disease progression.