News

Anghami & OSN+ Announce Landmark Investment Deal

The collaboration will result in the first MENA platform to provide video and music, backed by a $50 million cash injection.

Published

5 months ago

November 21, 2023

Nour Nasir

anghami and osn+ announce landmark investment merge deal

Leading MENA streaming platform Anghami has announced a milestone deal that will see the music and entertainment company join forces with video provider OSN+.

According to a recent press release, combining the two home-grown brands will “offer consumers unprecedented digital aggregation of the best and latest in premium movies, TV shows, music, podcasts, and more while providing a rich and seamless user experience”.

When the collaboration is completed, Anghami will become one of the region’s largest streaming platforms, augmenting its already massive catalog of 100 million songs with 18,000 hours of video from OSN+, including content from HBO, NBC Universal, Paramount, and leading MENA studios.

anghami and osn+ announce landmark investment deal

Elie Habib, co-founder of Anghami and soon-to-be CEO of the combined venture, commented: “Joining forces with OSN+ is a leap in Anghami’s journey to reinvent entertainment in the Arab world. We’re combining technology, music, and video to build a comprehensive media ecosystem. It’s a chance to deepen our connection with our users and create something they will love”.

Joe Kawkabani, CEO of the OSN Group, added: “This is a major milestone in OSN’s journey as we continue to scale up our streaming business. Combining OSN+ content with Anghami’s technology enables us to deliver the best of entertainment all in one place for our customers, ensuring we are continuously evolving our offering to meet their needs. As two home-grown entities with an unmatched understanding of the local market, we are confident that this new offering will change the face of the regional streaming landscape”.

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The OSN Group has pledged to invest in Anghami at $3.65 per share — nearly four times the average price for the past month. The full transaction is expected to close in Q1 2024, at which point OSN will own a majority stake in Anghami.

News

Joby To Establish All-Electric Air Taxi Ecosystem Across The UAE

The comprehensive agreement with Abu Dhabi’s government includes a training program, infrastructure development, and a manufacturing presence.

Published

11 hours ago

May 1, 2024

Nour Nasir

joby to establish all-electric air taxi ecosystem across the uae

Joby Aviation

All-electric aircraft company Joby Aviation has secured three separate agreements with departments of Abu Dhabi’s government that lay the groundwork to develop and scale air taxi services in the Emirate and beyond.

The deal was signed at the recent DRIFTx thought-leadership and exhibition platform and gave Joby exclusive rights to not only operate air taxi services in Dubai but also unlock inter-emirate services between Abu Dhabi.

joby air taxi partnership abu dhabi

Joe Ben Bevirt, founder and CEO of Joby Aviation, said: “Today’s agreement demonstrates the incredible momentum behind the adoption of clean flight across the UAE. We’re looking forward to delivering a fantastic experience for our future customers in Abu Dhabi and we’re excited to be unlocking the potential for zero-emissions flight between Abu Dhabi and Dubai. We’re grateful for the support and collaboration of our governmental partners and the entire ecosystem in Abu Dhabi and we remain deeply impressed by their commitment to building out a world-class aviation ecosystem in the Emirate”.

Joby’s all-electric aircraft went on display for the first time in Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina at the DRIFTx event. The air taxi is designed to carry a pilot and four passengers and can reach speeds of 200 miles per hour (321 km/h). The zero-emission craft is said to have an extremely low acoustic footprint and can travel a maximum of 100 miles (161 km) on a single charge.

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Once operational, Joby’s air taxi fleet would enable fast, clean travel across the UAE, with journeys between Abu Dhabi to Dubai taking just 30 minutes compared with two hours by car during peak times.

Joby continues to work closely with the UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) to help the Emirates become a world leader in the introduction of air taxis. Additional testing and analysis will be required before inter-emirate travel becomes a reality, but the cutting-edge technology already appears to have great potential.