Mohamed Alabbar, the founder of Noon and one of its major backers. Christopher Pike / The National
Mohamed Alabbar, the founder of Noon and one of its major backers. Christopher Pike / The National

Noon hires ex-Namshi managing director Faraz Khalid as chief executive



Noon, a Middle East e-commerce platform founded by Emaar's Mohamed Alabbar, said that it has appointed Faraz Khalid as its new chief executive ahead of the venture's much-awaited launch.

Mr Khalid, the co-founder and former managing director of Namshi, a regional online fashion retailer, will steer the company through its launch later this year. The company did not give further details about when its platform would go live in the UAE.

Noon is a U$1 billion joint venture project between Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and a number of prominent Gulf investors.

“We are on track to launch Noon this year with the final work on the fulfilment infrastructure and payment systems being completed," said Mohamed Alabbar in a statement.

"Several of the region’s leading brand owners and suppliers have come on board, underlining our local strength."

_____________________

Read more:

_____________________

Mr Khalid, who earned an MBA from the Wharton School, has been mandated with establishing long term strategic partnerships, boosting the company's infrastructure, especially in Saudi Arabia, and building the company's technological platform.

The creation of Noon comes amid a flourishing of e-commerce businesses in region, especially after Amazon purchased the Dubai-based online retailer Souq.com for $650 million.

The e-commerce sector has been rapidly growing in the UAE thanks to the country's affluent and digitally savvy population as well as the adoption of technology. Mergers and acquisitions in the industry have picked up pace over the past year.

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
 
Started: 2021
 
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
 
Based: Tunisia 
 
Sector: Water technology 
 
Number of staff: 22 
 
Investment raised: $4 million 
A MINECRAFT MOVIE

Director: Jared Hess

Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa

Rating: 3/5

Specs

Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric

Range: Up to 610km

Power: 905hp

Torque: 985Nm

Price: From Dh439,000

Available: Now

Specs

Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request

Test

Director: S Sashikanth

Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan

Star rating: 2/5

PROFILE OF INVYGO

Started: 2018

Founders: Eslam Hussein and Pulkit Ganjoo

Based: Dubai

Sector: Transport

Size: 9 employees

Investment: $1,275,000

Investors: Class 5 Global, Equitrust, Gulf Islamic Investments, Kairos K50 and William Zeqiri

Company%C2%A0profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ELeap%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMarch%202021%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Ziad%20Toqan%20and%20Jamil%20Khammu%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFinTech%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPre-seed%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunds%20raised%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Undisclosed%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeven%3C%2Fp%3E%0A

Barcelona 3
Messi (27’, 32’, 87’)

Leganes 1
El Zhar (68’)

In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe

Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010

Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille

Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm

Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year

Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”

Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners

TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013 

Specs

Engine: 51.5kW electric motor

Range: 400km

Power: 134bhp

Torque: 175Nm

Price: From Dh98,800

Available: Now

Volvo ES90 Specs

Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)

Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp

Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm

On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region

Price: Exact regional pricing TBA

NO OTHER LAND

Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal

Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham

Rating: 3.5/5