UAE e-commerce platform pursues growth following Dh110-million financing

UAE mass-market e-commerce platform AWOK.com has closed its first external round of financing to pursue its ambitious regional growth plans, achieving $30 million (Dh110-million).

The financing round was jointly led by StonePine ACE Partners out of its StonePine ACE Fund – a joint venture between StonePine Capital Partners and ACE & Company SA – and Al Faisaliah Ventures, the newly created Corporate Ventures Capital arm of Al Faisaliah Group.

Both are top tier regional investment companies. The deal is being co-invested in by globally renowned investment group Endeavor Catalyst.

The new capital raised will be mainly used for further geographical expansion into Saudi Arabia, to enhance the AWOK platform empowered by technology development, and to increase AWOK’s offering across multiple product categories.

“These are truly exciting times for Awok and its entire ecosystem,” said Ulugbek Yuldashev, founder and CEO of AWOK.com. “We founded AWOK.com in 2013 and have been pioneers in servicing a previously untapped segment of the market with a unique product selection.”

“Our success was built on providing our customers with the best experience we could, and with this round of financing we will be able to provide an even better experience to an even larger market,” he added.

AWOK.com said in a release that it plans to increase its team, attracting global talent and raising the level of customer experience and after sales support.

In the near future, AWOK will also scale its operations across key growth markets in the GCC countries and North Africa.

Youssef Haidar, founder and CEO of StonePine Capital Partners and head of the StonePine ACE Fund, said he was excited to help AWOK.com accelerate its growth.