Mawdoo3.com tops its series B round with $10m, totalling $23.5m for launch of its ‘Ujeeb’ platform

AMMAN — Jordan’s Mawdoo3.com announced on Monday that it has secured a total of $23.5 million in funding after the addition of $10 million to the final closing of its Series B round.

UK-based Kingsway Capital, US-based Endure Capital, Endeavour Catalyst, Equitrust (the investment arm of Choueiri Group) as well as AdamTech Ventures, participated in this round after the initial closing of $13.5 million announced in July 2018, a statement to The Jordan Times said. 

Founded by Rami Al Qawasmi and Mohammad Jaber, Mawdoo3.com’s mission has started by enriching the Arabic content on the Internet, using technology and artificial intelligence techniques to diminish the gap between Arabic online content and the growing number of Arabic internet users, the statement said.

“Today, the company serves 50 million unique Arab users per month searching for answers and information in their native language.”

Jaber, co-founder and chief operating officer, was quoted in the statement as saying that this strategic investment will be used for the launch of Ujeeb.com — a digital platform enabling Arab users to ask questions, and receive detailed answers from experts, specialists and individuals who have shared similar experiences around the world.

Jaber confirmed that the number of answers on Ujeeb has exceeded 200,000 so far, with the team aiming at reaching 10 million answers by the end of the platforms first year.

“We believe that Ujeeb will fulfil a vital need in the Arab world through a unique, more interactive type of Arabic content that Mawdoo3.com, our flagship website, does not cover. The Ujeeb platform was launched to complement the approach we had started with the establishment of Mawdoo3.com, allowing us to address both general and very specialised topics through a personalised knowledge-sharing experience,” Jaber said.

Jaber also said that the Ujeeb platform will be supported by artificial intelligence techniques and tools to optimise the users’ experience while browsing the platform, and ensure its customization to their interests and needs.

Patrick Thiriet, Choueiri Group’s chief strategy officer, said, “From the very beginning of our partnership with Mawdoo3.com, we’ve always been extremely impressed by the team’s constant learning journey and their passion to deliver Arabic content to the Arab population. Mawdoo3.com, and now Ujeeb, are a testimony that there is a bright future for smart digital content platforms in the MENA region.”

Earlier in July 2018, Mawdoo3.com announced the initial closing of the round with the amount of $13.5 million, which was used to launch “Salma”, the Arabic personal voice assistant. Powered by an Arabic-native artificial intelligence and machine learning platform, Salma already provides brief answers to questions on general topics and can also be used by companies in different sectors to better interact with their customers through voice services.