Music streaming service Anghami to set up HQ, R&D hub in Abu Dhabi

The move is the first partnership from ADIO’s recently announced AED2 billion ($545 million) Innovation Programme and will see the music streaming platform also set up an R&D centre in Abu Dhabi.

“For us, Anghami checks a lot of boxes in terms of having the right business model and being very focused on technology and innovation. The people they have are all talented and highly skilled and when you marry that with what Abu Dhabi has done, in terms of its ICT focus and building out a very connected infrastructure, I think it checked a lot of boxes for Anghami as well,” ADIO director-general, Dr Tariq Bin Hendi (pictured below), told Arabian Business.

Anghami relocating to Abu Dhabi is likely to set a precedent for other companies to be inspired and consider the emirate as their base, said Bin Hendi, pictured below.

“We are very excited about the Anghami partnership and think that it setting-up in Abu Dhabi is a big testament to what we have built. The narrative we’ve developed is now materialising in real companies with real talent and proper ambition using Abu Dhabi as a hub to do that,” he added.

“It is very rewarding to see the conversations we’ve been having translate into people being here. I think there is a lot of opportunities that haven’t been showcased yet and now it is time for these companies to come and really benefit from what we have put in place.”

For Anghami, there are several reasons why it chose Abu Dhabi for its new headquarters, said co-founder Eddy Maroun.

“Abu Dhabi’s positioning as the region’s tech-hub is really world-class from an infrastructure and ecosystem point of view. There is also access to high-quality talent which is very important. Add to that the great support we received from the government through ADIO,” said Maroun.

“Abu Dhabi has always given a lot of attention to media and Anghami is a tech company, but also a media company. We believe that, along with everything I mentioned before, the local angle of Anghami, the Arab content we have and our ambition to be the platform of choice for Arabs in the region and globally, all made Abu Dhabi the choice for our move,” he added.

ADIO believes Anghami will contribute to the growth of Abu Dhabi’s Creative Cluster as well as to technology adoption across sectors, said Bin Hendi.

ADIO will be financially supporting Anghami on people, operations, growth and company expansion but also non-financially, an aspect Bin Hendi feels is very important.

“We’ve connected them into the wider Abu Dhabi ecosystem with some of the major players here and they are looking at those companies as both potential clients and partners. We are connecting them not just with revenue opportunities but also with policy ones,” he explained.

ADIO continues to diversify its investments and is looking very closely at health and biotech as well as fintech and the creative economy, added Bin Hindi.

ADIO’s Innovation Programme, an initiative of the Abu Dhabi government’s Ghadan 21 accelerator programme, provides incentives to innovative businesses within high-growth areas including ICT, Financial Services, Tourism, AgTech and Health Services & Biopharma.

The programme aims to accelerate opportunities for innovative businesses, supporting their growth and enabling them to deliver ideas that drive a wider positive impact.

Earlier this month, asset management and investment banking platform Shuaa Capital announced its investment in Anghami as part of its increased focus on technology-related investments. The investment was part of Anghami’s first funding round since 2016.

In 2019, Anghami saw the platform deliver 10 billion music streams and, according to recent research, the global music streaming market is expected to deliver continued growth, with the MENA region expected to achieve a compound annual growth rate of over 21 percent from 2020 to 2027, compared to 17.8 percent globally.