GoCompare joins UAE Exchange Group and Riyad TAQNIA Fund for landmark investment in award-winning Souqalmal.com
Souqalmal.com, the biggest personal finance comparison website in the Middle East, is getting a lot bigger. The company has raised USD 10 million in a Series B investment, notable for both its size and the high profile of the investors for a significant portion of that figure.
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), announcing strategic partnerships with Souqalmal.com at a press conference in Dubai this morning.
Souqalmal.com empowers consumers to make the right choice by bringing together on one convenient platform all the latest deals on more than 3,200 banking, insurance and education products offered by providers in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Ambareen Musa, CEO & Founder of Souqalmal.com said, “We have been experiencing significant growth in all our markets and our insurance business has increased by 800 percent over the past year. Service optimization and customer focus have also enabled us to slash our customer acquisition cost by 80 percent.
The time is now to build on our strong foundation and take the company to the next level. The funding will largely be used to launch new business lines, develop our platform’s technology, and invest in marketing to further raise awareness and reach more people.
However, these partnerships go far beyond funding. GoCompare brings to the table best-in-class expertise and technology; partnering with UAE Exchange gives us fantastic customer reach across the GCC and RTF will help us expand in the Saudi market. We have a powerful shared vision to create a regional platform that will transform people’s understanding and purchase of personal finance products.“
“GoCompare becomes the first international financial services player to make a strategic investment in a UAE-based Fintech company, following the growing trend we’re seeing in other industries, most notably Amazon’s acquisition of Souq and Didi’s backing of Careem, in e-commerce and transport respectively.” she added.
“We are delighted to be making our first international investment with Souqalmal.com,” said Matthew Crummack, CEO of GoCompare. “It is the clear leader in financial education and personal finance comparison in the Middle East, and is fully aligned with our mission to help people everywhere to save time and money. With a youthful and tech savvy population, the potential for growth in the region is huge and Souqalmal.com is the ideal partner for us here.”
“We are constantly assessing how we can go that extra mile for our customers and we have watched Souqalmal.com’s rapid rise with interest. We have a wide customer base of over 15 million customers, to whom we offer a wide range of services at our stores. They look up to us for the convenience we bring to them by partnering with various service providers. We are happy to associate with Souqalmal.com and are now looking forward to introducing its unique services to this wide customer base across our extensive network.” added Promoth Manghat, Group CEO and Executive Director, UAE Exchange.
“Souqalmal.com is much more than a comparison website. Financial literacy is a priority for Saudi Arabia and Souqalmal.com can play a leading role in this”, said Adel Al-Ateeq, Acting CEO of Riyad Capital. “The company’s personal finance services will also help financial products be more accessible for all in the Kingdom and promote innovation in our financial services sector. We are excited to help Souqalmal.com share its expertise and extend its footprint in Saudi Arabia.”
