Shuaa Capital is aiming to continue its investment journey into the technology space, with a focus on technology solutions and services. Jaime Puebla/The National
Shuaa Capital is aiming to continue its investment journey into the technology space, with a focus on technology solutions and services. Jaime Puebla/The National
Shuaa Capital is aiming to continue its investment journey into the technology space, with a focus on technology solutions and services. Jaime Puebla/The National
Shuaa Capital is aiming to continue its investment journey into the technology space, with a focus on technology solutions and services. Jaime Puebla/The National

Shuaa invests in Lebanon-born music streaming service Anghami


Alkesh Sharma
  • English
  • Arabic

Dubai investment banking firm Shuaa Capital said on Tuesday it invested an undisclosed amount as part of a new funding round in Middle East music streaming service Anghami.

Shuaa's managed funds platform will invest to help grow Anghami, the Middle East's answer to Spotify with more than 55 million users, the asset management company said in a statement on the Dubai Financial Market, where its shares trade.

“We have been working closely with Anghami, bringing our expertise in originating and structuring deals to bear in order to successfully complete this investment round,” Jassim Alseddiqi, Shuaa Capital’s chief executive, said.

"Anghami is ideally aligned with our investment criteria, having been the first music streaming platform here in the region in 2012 … delivering exponential growth. This is a continuation of our investment journey into the technology space and we are keen to invest in technology solutions and services.”

Anghami, which started with an investment of $200,000 from it’s two founders in 2012, has raised over $40 million from investors including Dubai venture capital firm Middle East Venture Partners and investment firm Samena Capital.

The Lebanon-born music streaming app raised an undisclosed amount from a Series B round in November 2016, led by Samena Capital and telco Du.

Prior to that, it had two fundraising rounds, led by MEVP, in 2012 and 2014.

"As Anghami continues to target rapid growth and penetration, combined with our dedicated focus on profitability, we are delighted to have secured the support of Shuaa Capital and its co-investors in this latest round,” Elie Habib, co-founder of Anghami, said.

“Having last raised funds in 2016, it was important for us to partner with the right investors, who understand our region and our growth model,” he added.

The global music streaming market is expected to deliver continued growth, with the Middle East and Africa market forecast to grow over 21 per cent from 2020 to 2027, compared with 17.8 per cent globally, according to recent research by Grand View Research.

Currently, Anghami has a catalogue comprising more than 50 million songs. It has offices in Beirut, Dubai, Cairo and Riyadh.

It remained the market leader in the region for almost seven years before other players such as Swedish audio streaming company Spotify and Deezer, the music streaming platform backed by Saudi Arabian businessman Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, entered the market in 2018.

In 2019, Anghami said it delivered 10 billion music streams.

In numbers

- Number of children under five will fall from 681 million in 2017 to 401m in 2100

- Over-80s will rise from 141m in 2017 to 866m in 2100

- Nigeria will become the world’s second most populous country with 791m by 2100, behind India

- China will fall dramatically from a peak of 2.4 billion in 2024 to 732 million by 2100

- an average of 2.1 children per woman is required to sustain population growth

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FINAL RECKONING

Director: Christopher McQuarrie

Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg

Rating: 4/5

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Avatar%20(2009)
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Indoor cricket in a nutshell

Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sept 16-20, Insportz, Dubai

16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership

Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.

Zones

A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full

SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20SAMSUNG%20GALAXY%20S23%20ULTRA
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F1 The Movie

Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Rating: 4/5

Black Panther
Dir: Ryan Coogler
Starring: Chadwick Boseman, Michael B Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o
Five stars

UAE%20medallists%20at%20Asian%20Games%202023
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Closing the loophole on sugary drinks

As The National reported last year, non-fizzy sugared drinks were not covered when the original tax was introduced in 2017. Sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, 20 grams of sugar per 500ml bottle.

The non-fizzy drink AriZona Iced Tea contains 65 grams of sugar – about 16 teaspoons – per 680ml can. The average can costs about Dh6, which would rise to Dh9.

Drinks such as Starbucks Bottled Mocha Frappuccino contain 31g of sugar in 270ml, while Nescafe Mocha in a can contains 15.6g of sugar in a 240ml can.

Flavoured water, long-life fruit juice concentrates, pre-packaged sweetened coffee drinks fall under the ‘sweetened drink’ category
 

Not taxed:

Freshly squeezed fruit juices, ground coffee beans, tea leaves and pre-prepared flavoured milkshakes do not come under the ‘sweetened drink’ band.

ESSENTIALS

The flights

Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.

The hotels

Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.

The tours

A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages. 

RESULT

Norway 1 Spain 1
Norway: King (90 4')
Spain: Niguez (47')

Tearful appearance

Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday. 

Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow. 

She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.

A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.

Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
  • Priority access to new homes from participating developers
  • Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
  • Flexible payment plans from developers
  • Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
  • DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
EXPATS
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