Cairo, June 18, 2013 – Jabbar Internet Group, one of the region’s largest online investors, today announced its first investment in an Egyptian company through the Alexandria-based website BKAM.com. Launched in October 2012, BKAM.com is the first price comparison website in the Middle East, already receiving over 6,000 daily visits and over 50,000 downloads of its mobile application. BKAM.com has just launched in the UAE and will be launching in Saudi Arabia later this year.
“According to a report by Wamda, the online population in the MENA region has reached 110 million users. The total e-commerce spend in 2012 was US$9 billion, and is expected to grow to US$ 15 billion by 2015,” said Mahmoud Abdel Fattah, founder of BKAM.com. “With a total Internet population of 110 million, consumers will need more services to help them make online purchase decisions. BKAM.com aims to become the ultimate source of information for any consumer seeking to make any kind of product purchase.”
“We approached BKAM.com because we saw in their vision the promise of something very successful both in Egypt and across the region,” said Samih Toukan, Chairman, Jabbar Internet Group. “Their technology is very unique and the team behind it is committed to growing and developing the concept. Our organization was started by young entrepreneurs, so we are very focused on supporting other entrepreneurs build their Internet companies in the region. There has been a surge in Egyptian technology start-ups over the past few years, but BKAM.com really stood out for us and we’re pleased to bring them under our umbrella.”
Jabbar Internet Group was founded by the team of entrepreneurs behind Maktoob.com, which was sold to Yahoo! in 2009. After spinning off its ecommerce assets into Souq Group, Jabbar Internet Group recently exited Cobone.com successfully. Today it has ikoo.com, tahadi.com, nibras.com and Araby.com among its portfolio.
Abdel Fattah added: “We’re proud and excited to announce this milestone today. BKAM.com was an idea we just came up with just over a year ago. This growth in such a short time is the result of all of our hard work, innovation and the intelligent technology we developed. Our mobile application is a huge hit with Egyptian consumers. We anticipate similar growth in the UAE and then Saudi Arabia in a few months.”
At the moment, BKAM.com offers product information such as price, retail locations and reviews on products that are already listed somewhere online. In the future, the website will also provide information on products sold at retailers’ with no online presence at all.
“This will be a significant step for the small to medium sized retail businesses who cannot afford to create an online presence,” Abdel Fattah added. BKAM.com can also provide retailers with significant insight and analysis into consumer buying trends, market price indices and competitive analysis.”
In May 2012, BKAM.com won the MENA 100 Business Plan Competition in Bahrain and in December it won a Vodafone Egypt mobile application competition. These awards helped BKAM.com spiral ahead with their plans and reach this important milestone it has come to today.