South African giant media Naspers has participated in a new funding round that has secured $275m USD for Souq.com, a Dubai-based online retailer. Other investors that participated in this funding include Tiger Global, Standard Chartered Private Equity, International Finance Corp., and Ballie Gifford.
Closing this funding makes Souq.com the highest valued Internet company in the Middle East, Standard Chartered said in a separate statement confirming its $50 million equity investment in Souq.com. Both Tiger and Naspers have participated in earlier fundraising rounds by Souq.com, with Naspers investing $75 million in the company in March 2014.
“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,” Chief Executive Officer Ronaldo Mouchawar said. “The e-commerce market in the Middle East is growing very fast and is expected to reach $20 billion this year.”
This funding will make Souq.com the first unicorn in the Arab world as well as the highest valued internet company in the Middle East.
One of the reasons why Souq is growing quickly is because of how it’s tailored its platform to work on mobile devices. As with other emerging markets, smartphones are far and away the most common way for consumers to go online, Mouchawar told TechCrunch.
