Nine things you might not know about Souq.com

Souq.com is reportedly planning to sell a 30 percent stake in the business, according to Bloomberg.

Here are nine things you might not know about the ecommerce giant:

1. The company was founded by Ronaldo Mouchawar in 2006 and today it is the largest online retailer in the Middle East, with 3,000 employees.
2. Earlier this year, it completed a funding round of more than AED 1 Billion (USD 275 million), which was the largest financing of an e-commerce business in the Middle East. Investors included Tiger Global Management and Naspers Ltd., which had both also invested in Souq.com in earlier funding rounds.
3. In 2013, Souq.com won ‘Digital Business of the Year’ at the Arabian Business StartUp Awards.
4. The site features more than a million products across 31 categories including consumer electronics, fashion, health and beauty.
5. It attracts over 45 million visits per month and has localised operations in the KSA, UAE and Egypt.
6. There are 70,000 merchants selling their products on Souq.com.
7. Souq.com recently launched Helpbit, a platform to provide after-sales service in the UAE. It offers on-demand services including repairs to broken phones and laptops, housekeeping and laundry services, alterations to clothing and pretty much.
8. Mouchawar is Syrian and studied engineering at Northeastern University in Boston 
9. Nestlé Egypt became the first FMCG company to sell its products on Souq.com in June 2016.

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Read the September 2016 issue of Business Review Middle East magazine