The Dubai headquartered finance comparison website, Souqalmal.com, raised USD $10 million in Series B funding from GoCompare, a UK based financial services provider.
GoCompare Group plc, which operates the highly successful UK comparison website GoCompare, joins co-investor UAE Exchange Group (UX Holdings Limited) and lead investor Saudi-based Riyad TAQNIA Fund (RTF).
Ambareen Musa, CEO & Founder of Souqalmal.com said, “We’re the third company in the region to bring in a strategic international player.” She added that this is proof that the region is an attraction point for international players who are acquiring companies to penetrate the market.
In March, e-commerce giant Amazon acquired Souq.com, the region’s leading e-commerce website for $580 million and in August, DiDi Chuxing, China’s largest ride-hailing firm, invested in Careem.
Ambareen Musa is the CEO and founder of Souqalmal.com. Before founding Souqalmal.com in 2012, Musa set up the consulting arm of MasterCard Middle East and Africa. Previously Musa held had various roles including marketing, financial literacy, customer advocacy and e- commerce for GE’s financial arm, GE Money. She led the first online financial literacy initiative in the U.K., Moneybasics.co.uk., later relocating to the Middle East in 2008 where she consulted for Bain & Company Middle East, focusing on financial services projects such as growth strategies for banks in the region.
