Technology

'We owe it to 400 million Arabs that they go to the digital economy. I think it's our duty; otherwise the Middle East will be left behind.'
- Mohamed Ali Alabbar

Shaping the region's digital future

As a visionary and champion of innovative technologies, Alabbar has built up a diversified investment portfolio in the technology sector. Teaming up with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), he launched noon in 2017, which has become the region’s leading e-commerce platform and digital ecosystem. He is also a major investor with Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP), a fund offering investors tech exposure in the MENA region and Turkey. Additionally, through Alabbar Enterprises, which he heads, he has a stake in global online fashion retailer Yoox Net-a-Porter Group and has signed a joint venture to set up an online luxury retail business in the Middle East. In 2021, Alabbar announced Zand, his latest technology venture and the world’s first fully digital bank to offer both retail and corporate banking services.

Noon

noon is the region’s technology leader, aiming to accelerate the digital economy of the Middle East by empowering regional talent and businesses to meet consumers' online needs. Starting in 2017 with noon.com, noon is now a digital ecosystem of products and services.

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Namshi

Founded in 2011, Namshi is the GCC’s leading e-commerce fashion and lifestyle platform. With a rapidly growing selection of over 1,500 brands, Namshi serves customers across Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, and Qatar with a vast product mix, super-fast delivery and digital innovation.

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Zand

Zand aims to make banking quicker and simpler through fully digital offerings and provide tools that put customers in control of their financial lives. The world's first digital bank to provide both retail and corporate banking, Zand is set to be a leading digital economic accelerator.

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DIWAN

Diwan is the leading content and influencer management agency in the region. Globally ranked among the top 100 multi-channel networks by views and subscribers, it has offices and representatives in the UAE, KSA, Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, Turkey, India, Philippines, and Thailand.

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Facts & Figures

$48.6 billion

e-commerce sales in the MENA by 2022

48%

of internet users in MENA shop online

80%

UAE, KSA & Egypt make up 80% of the MENA e-commerce market