Unifonic Raises $21 Million led by STV to Transform Business Communications in Emerging Markets

Unifonic, the leading cloud communication platform for global emerging markets announced today it closed a $21M Series A round led by STV with participation from RTF, Endeavor Catalyst, ELM, and Raed Ventures. This transaction represents the first institutional capital raise for the company and is one of the largest Series A financings in the MENA region. The capital will be used to scale company growth and sales in multiple markets and industries and invest in further Unifonic product platform development, in particular, the advancement of its unique machine-learning models.

Founded in 2008, Unifonic provides cloud-based communication tools to business customers and enables integration of text- and voice-based solutions via its powerful API platform. By combining cloud-based software, telephony APIs and real-time data intelligence, Unifonic eliminates the need for costly hardware infrastructure and makes business communication simple, fast, and cost-effective. The company has been profitable for over 8 years, has experienced double-digit monthly revenue growth and has grown to over 100 employees in 5 countries.

Reid Hoffman, Linkedin Co-founder and Chairman of Endeavor Catalyst, along with Linda Rottenberg, Endeavor’s Co-founder and CEO, both applauded the deal. "Endeavor selects and connects the most promising global companies and entrepreneurs with experienced business advisors to help drive growth and economic development around the world. The founders of Unifonic were selected as high-impact Endeavor Entrepreneurs in 2013, and we are thrilled to announce the Endeavor Catalyst fund is now investing in Unifonic alongside STV as the company continues scaling up.”

Unifonic is reinventing cloud communications for emerging markets around the world. Today, Unifonic provides cloud-based access to more than 720 mobile networks in 190 countries across 9 regional markets, with over 5,000 business customers such as companies like Careem, Dominos Pizza, Jarir Bookstore, HungerStation, and others.

"Unifonic is a great example of the type of founder-driven, capital-efficient business we want to invest in. It has rapidly developed a leadership position in the fast-growing cloud communications market," said Abdulrahman Tarabzouni, CEO of STV. "The founders have created a profitable and growing technology company, and we look forward to working together to take this to the next level.”

“Using the latest cloud communications technology, our company delivers tools and platforms that allow businesses to engage efficiently with customers all over the world,” said Ahmed Hamdan, CEO of Unifonic. "We are excited to be working with STV, RTF and investors from both Silicon Valley and other global markets that provide not only capital but also vast strategic experience in scaling high-impact innovative companies."