A huge transition is happening to one of the leading application and music platforms in the Middle East. Today it was announced that Anghami, the leading music-streaming platform is merging with Vistas Media Acquisition Company Inc.
Over the years, Anghami has proven that it is one of the best music platforms in the MENA and North Africa and this step will lead to the expansion of the application.
Anghami’s Numbers and Overview
Anghami was founded in 2012 and ever since then it has been attracting millions of users.
The application was founded by Eddy Maroun and Elie Habib, and it was the first music-streaming platform in the MENA region. The application offered more than 57 million songs and attracted more than 70 million uses, which led to about 1 billion streams per month.
The company made partnerships with global labels such as Universal Music Group, Sony Music, and Warner Music Group; it also formed a strong partnership with many brands and telecommunication companies like Etisalat.
Anghami’s headquarters is in Abu Dhabi at the Abu Dhabi Global Market and has offices in Beirut, Dubai, Cairo, and Riyadh. The company’s international head of partnership is music industry entrepreneur and manager, Wassim “Sal” Slaiby, who is the CEO of XO Records and is based in LA.
It’s also worth mentioning that Anghami is backed by leading MENA firms, strategic and shareholders, media groups, and telecommunication companies that own around 68% of Anghami with the balance owned by the founders.
Merging with Vistas Media Acquisition Company Inc.
The result of Anghami and Vistas Media Acquisition Company Inc.’s merge is placing the application on NASDAQ New York.
Anghami is the first Arab technology company to make it to NASDAQ New York’s list. The merger is led by CEO F. Jacob Cherian and co-founders Saurabh Gupta and Abhayanand Singh; the initial value of this merger is 220 million dollars. After the merge, the company will still operate under the same name as Anghami but will trade under a new symbol of “ANGH”
Co-founder and CEO of Anghami, Eddy Maroun said,
“Today, we have taken a significant step forward in our growth plans in seeking to become the region’s first Arab technology company to list on NASDAQ. Being the U.S. listed public company gives us access to growth capital and a global platform that is the best in the world.”
Also, it is expected that the transaction will be completed in the second quarter of 2021. The company’s revenues have grown by an 80% over the last 3 years and for the next 3 years it is expected to increase five-fold; also, it is expected for the company to have 142 million dollars in its balance sheet at closing to fuel additional growth.
UAE-based publicly listed asset management and investment banking firm SHUAA Capital has put 30 million dollars and Vistas Media Capital Singapore, which is the parent of the sponsor for Vistas Media Acquisition Company Inc. has put 10 million dollars in PIPE financing; SHUAA also funded Anghami earlier in the year.
Jassim Alseddiqi, Group CEO of SHUAA, stated:
“We are delighted to be leading the PIPE for Anghami’s business combination with VMAC in what will accelerate Anghami’s growth and build upon its success as a pioneer in the music streaming space in the Middle East and North Africa. SHUAA led a funding round for Anghami earlier in the year and has been working closely with the team to secure the PIPE investment and deliver a successful listing on NASDAQ. In addition, the enhanced reputation and access to capital that comes with a listing on NASDAQ accelerate the company’s growth journey.”
Anghami’s AI and Algorithms
The platform uses AI and Machine learning algorithms to collect as much data as it can.
These machine learning algorithms and AI process over 56 million data points from Anghami’s users. These data have enabled the application to predict the user’s behavior and trends. This helps the company to focus and invest more in the areas delivering the highest return on investment.
By listing the company on NASDAQ, it will allow the platform to invest more in its technology to invest in its technology to scale its user base to build on its data play.
Elie Habib, Co-founder, Chairman, and CTO of Anghami, said,
“We’re proud of the product and technology we’ve been able to build, and now we will have the ability to invest more in R&D and innovate providing a product that goes beyond music to immersive experiences around media and entertainment while remaining relevant to our users and focused on our local edge.”
This is an important step for Anghami and we can’t wait to see what the future holds for this successful platform.
