Backed by investors Tiger Global Management LLC and Naspers, MENA's premium and leading e-commerce website, Souq, has just raised $275 million – the largest financing of an e-commerce business in the Middle East.
According to Bloomberg, Souq was actively seeking $300 million for expansion plans back in 2015, which would have valued the company at around $1 billion. Now that they've managed to raise the amount, Souq is finally among the world's unicorns.
“The funding will be used to drive further growth by investing in technology, scaling our marketplace operations, launching new product categories and recruiting the best talent,” co-founder and CEO Ronaldo Mouchawar said in a statement .
"Capitalizing on the step-change in consumer behavior and business benefit towards mobile commerce, Souq.com will continue to lead the e-commerce industry in the region.”
Established back in 2005, Souq was among the first players in the region to establish an online business by realizing early on that the boom of the Internet was only going to grow further in the region with e-commerce businesses taking over traditional ones. Since then, Souq has witnessed tremendous growth, with more than 10 million shoppers browsing its website which offers a wide range of products, from electronics to clothes to household goods.
What makes Souq one of the strongest players in the industry is the realization that people in the Arab world have not yet accepted online payments as a secure method of payment, while Souq has kept an Cash on Delivery available for customers uncomfortable with online payments.