MENAbytes gets acquired by Cairo's RiseUp
MENAbytes, the one-person company founded by Zubair Naeem Paracha in mid-2017 in Saudi Arabia, has announced its acquisition by Egypt's RiseUp. The deal amount has not been disclosed yet.
RiseUp, the Cairo-based company, offers a platform that connects startups to the most relevant resources, such as business and technical know-how, data, talent, and a host of curated tools and services, as well as helps in accessing funding. It is also behind RiseUp Summit, one of the region's largest innovation and entrepreneurship summits that takes place annually in Downtown Cairo.
Both news and data platforms are part of the acquisition as announced by MENAbytes itself, including "some other digital efforts of the company".
In its announcement post, MENAbytes wrote that while it will remain an independent media platform, it will "also integrate with RiseUp’s digital content arm."
It recently expanded its coverage to Pakistan and is looking to further expand it to Turkey and some other emerging markets.
“We’re immeasurably excited about the opportunities MENAbytes will offer RiseUp. The acquisition, and working with Zubair, is the first big step in our vision of being a one-stop-shop for the entire spectrum of resources entrepreneurs and startups need to grow.” —Abdelhameed Sharara, RiseUp’s CEO
In the announcement post, Zubair, founder of MENAbytes, commented “I am very excited about becoming a part of RiseUp and working with Abdelhameed and the brilliant team there especially because of their vision of building a platform to offer every online and offline resource that an entrepreneur may need to grow their startup in MENA.”
Zubair will be joining RiseUp as part of the acquisition while continuing to lead MENAbytes' efforts.
