| Acquired by | Yahoo! |
| Price | $164M |
| Date | 2/10 |
| Terms | Cash |
| Website | maktoob.com |
| Category | Consumer Web |
| Employees | |
| Founded | 2000 |
| Description | Arabic Hosting and Social Network |
| TOTAL | $5.25M |
| FUNDING TOTAL | $5.25M |
| Venture Round, 1/06 Tiger Technology Global Management | $5.25M |
Maktoob is an Arabic social network and web 2.0 group.
Maktoob was founded in the year 2000 as the world’s first free Arabic/English Web-based Email service, offering users a platform to send and receive E-mails in either language, regardless of their operating system. In the few years since, Maktoob has strategically grown to become an integrated group of companies and websites.
The network of sites includes Maktoob.com, the world’s leading Arab portal with a market share of around 13 million unique users, as well as a range of companies and sites specialized in business and ecommerce in the MENA region.
Although the initial focus was on Arabic/English Web-based email services, Maktoob.com quickly evolved to attract users toward a host of additional services. Maktoob.com’s community services consist of email, discussion forums, news, blogs, chat , matrimonial services, games, mobile services, women content, sports content and a variety of other community and web 2.0 services.
| Website | araby.com |
Araby.com is the first Arabic search engine on the internet offering advanced Arabic-language search capabilities and the latest, comprehensive, and more accurate coverage of the Arabic websites, to users worldwide; relying on the latest search and indexing technologies and the expertise of distinguished technology and language experts.
As a user-focused service, Araby provides a tool to search through specific verticals such as Videos, music, forums, Islam, blogs, and images, packed with a host of attractive features that include Advanced Search and the Arabic keyboard. The continuous efforts at Araby to offer a better service are shaping a new search experience in which the user needs are better understood and served in an intuitive and effective way.
| Website | souq.com |
| Blog | blog.souq.com |
| Launch Date | 2005 |
Souq.com is the largest e-commerce site in the Arab world, featuring more than 200,000 products across categories such as consumer electronics, fashion, household goods, watches or perfumes. Today Souq.com attracts over 8 million visits per month and is fast growing as more consumers shop online in the Arab world.
Often tagged as the “Amazon of the Middle East”, Souq.com operates both as a retail site and as a marketplace for third party sellers. It offers a convenient and safe online shopping experience with online payments, option to pay cash on delivery and free returns.
Established in 2005, Souq.com pioneered online shopping in the region as an auction site linked to the Arab internet portal Maktoob. When Yahoo! acquired Maktoob in August 2009, Souq.com was not included in the sale and was spun off as part of Jabbar Internet Group. The site then switched to a marketplace with a fixed price model in early 2011, and then launched its retail division late 2011.
Headquartered in Dubai, UAE, Souq.com caters to the needs of local markets with commercial offices in Egypt, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, and a technical and development center in Jordan.
