Amman-based ArabiaWeather raises $7.1m to expand weather offerings to clients

AMMAN – ArabiaWeather Inc., a leading weather company in the Middle East, has announced a new round of funding totaling $5 million, following the $2.1 million it raised earlier this year. 

The round, one of the largest venture deals raised in the region in 2015, is led by Silicon Badia and Wamda Capital, and includes the founding investor Jabbar Internet Group and DASH Ventures.

The investment will be used to continue growing ArabiaWeather’s customer and enterprise offerings in the region, the company said in a statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times Sunday.

ArabiaWeather serves millions of customers across the Middle East and North Africa with weather forecasts, information, and content, delivered through its web and mobile properties. 

The company said it will invest in expanding the reach of its flagship mobile app, which is one of the most popular native Arab mobile applications on both iOS and Android, adding that it will also be expanding its video coverage and content, and launching new specialised mobile apps targeted at weather aficionados. 

"The company is launching a new digital monetisation unit that will allow advertisers to create smarter digital ad products which leverage ArabiaWeather’s weather and customer data," said the statement.

On the enterprise side, ArabiaWeather said it will invest in developing integrated industry-specific solutions for businesses in the Middle East as the decision-support solutions enables companies in sectors that are particularly affected by weather conditions — such as aviation, marine, oil and gas, agriculture, insurance and retail — to save costs, enhance safety and drive operational efficiency. 

“We are happy with the continued growth of our customer-focused properties, and we will continue to serve our millions of users with the most accurate and informative weather forecasts and content by enhancing our mobile offerings and expanding our original video content," said ArabiaWeather CEO Mohammed Al Shaker. 

The company plans to invest a portion of the proceeds of the round in its weather infrastructure, including expanding the deployment of its own weather stations across the region and the unique weather forecasting technology, said the statement, adding the company also has plans to utilise its 35 million strong user-base to crowd-source more accurate hyper-local weather observations.

Khaled Talhouni Managing Partner at Wamda Capital said the funding is fully dedicated to further growing the company, which has established "an exceptional track record as a premier provider of highly useful weather information in the region." 

"We believe there is a true opportunity to further build ArabiaWeather’s portfolio of decision-support weather solutions for the benefit of companies and customers in the region” he added.

ArabiaWeather Inc. is the first and considered the largest private weather company in the Middle East.  

Founded in 2006, ArabiaWeather is headquartered in Amman and has an office in Dubai.