Anghami, the leading music streaming company in the Mena region, has raised an undisclosed amount in a Series B investment round led by private equity firm Samena Capital.

UAE-based telecommunications service provider -'du' also subscribed to the fundraising and entered into a commercial agreement with Anghami in the UAE to bundle its music streaming service with du products.

The completion of the Series B investment round marks the third successful fundraise by Anghami, which was seeded by Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP) in 2012. Subsequently in 2014, MEVP lead a successful Series A fundraising round that included co-investments from MBC Group, the leading media group in the Mena region and Mobily Ventures, the investment arm of leading Saudi telco-operator Mobily.

The proceeds of the latest round will fund the next phase of Anghami's user acquisition and further regional expansion. The investment will also be used to grow the company's 20 million song library, which includes the largest catalogue of digital Arabic music globally, and to enhance Anghami's rapidly growing music video platform among other new features.

Founded by Lebanese entrepreneurs Eddy Maroun and Elie Habib and backed by its strategic and financial shareholders, Anghami quickly secured exclusive access to the music libraries and artist pre-releases of leading Arabic and International music labels. Through its partnership with MBC, Anghami entered into a flagship marketing agreement which spearheaded its media presence in the Mena region, particularly through exclusive integration into popular TV formats such as Arab Idol, The Voice and The X-factor. In parallel, the company built a portfolio of bundling agreements with more than 15 telco companies across the Arab world.

In the last three years, Anghami has grown its subscriber base eleven-fold to 30 million users, and its monthly active user base five-fold to a current 6 million users. At least 500 million songs are streamed per month from Anghami's multi-application platform.  

Eddy Maroun, co-founder and chief executive officer of Anghami, said: "We are delighted to have Samena and du onboard and are confident of the value they bring to our expansion. We're proud to see the company transition from a start-up into a regional market leader. We have an ambitious vision for Anghami beyond the streaming application; as a platform with cutting-edge technology, Anghami is empowered to build a strong ecosystem in the region connecting fans, artists, telcos and brands around music."

Wassim Moukahhal, senior vice president at Samena Capital said: "Samena Capital invests in companies that have the potential to become regional champions. In Anghami, we found all the right ingredients; a talented management team who are experts and innovators in their fields, a sophisticated, high-tech product and a proven business model that earned the company its undisputed leading position in the Middle East. In partnership with management and the company's shareholders, we look forward to delivering the next transformational chapter in Anghami's story."

Carlos Domingo, Chief New Business and Innovation officer at du, added: "The future of telecommunications and media are converging and we think that with the leading and distinct music platform that Anghami is creating, combined with our connectivity and distribution capabilities, we can provide unique and new value proposition to delight our customers."

Commenting on the investment, Walid Mansour, managing partner at MEVP said: "This has been a very exciting year for Anghami; the team has done an outstanding job in growing the company and positioning it as the uncontested music streaming market leader in the MENA region. As the seed investors and after having reinvested in the company in consecutive rounds, we continue to actively support management as we have done since inception. We are very proud to have been part of the Anghami's success thus far, and look forward to welcoming Samena and du onboard as our new Anghami partners." - TradeArabia News Service