News

Anghami To Become The First Arab Tech Company To List On NASDAQ

Published

4 years ago

March 4, 2021

Anghami

Anghami, the first music-streaming platform in the MENA region, will soon also become the first Arab technology company to list on NASDAQ New York via a merger with Vistas Media Acquisition Company Inc., a publicly-traded special purpose acquisition company.

“Today, we have taken a significant step forward in our growth plans in seeking to become the region’s first Arab technology company to list on Nasdaq,” said Anghami co-founder Eddy Maroun. “Being a US-listed public company gives us access to growth capital and a global platform that is the best in the world.”

Anghami, which translates into “my tunes” in Arabic, was founded in 2012 by Maroun and his fellow Lebanese entrepreneur Elie Habib, providing convenient access to Arabic and international music alike. Over the years, the platform has become the leader in the MENA region, offering around 60 million songs to more than 70 million registered users.

anghami listed on nadsaq new york

In early 2021, Anghami moved its headquarters to Abu Dhabi, after a partnership with the Abu Dhabi Investment Office. The merger with Vistas Media Acquisition Company Inc. implies an initial pro-forma valuation of around $220 million. The music-streaming platform will continue to operate under its name and trade under the symbol “ANGH”.

Also Read: Anghami Review: The MENA’s Favorite Music Streaming Service

“This is a landmark transaction for the MENA region and for Vistas,” commented Saurabh Gupta, co-founder of Vistas Media Acquisition Company Inc. “The combination of Anghami and the Vistas team will be a powerful force in the media and entertainment world, and we couldn’t be prouder of the hard work from everyone to get to this stage, but our work has only just begun.”

Anghami founders would like to use the new funding to not only attract additional customers from the MENA region, but they would also like to expand into new markets and compete with services like Spotify and Deezer, both of which are significantly more popular outside the Middle East.

News

Stake Powers Instant Payouts With Checkout.com Pay To Card

The new feature lets investors in the UAE, KSA, and UK receive real estate returns in minutes — cutting withdrawal times to under 10 minutes.

Published

1 day ago

June 19, 2025

Nour Nasir

stake powers instant payouts with checkout.com pay to card

Stake, a leading digital real estate investment platform, has unveiled Pay to Card, a next-generation withdrawal feature built on Checkout.com’s global payment infrastructure. The integration enables investors to have dividends and returns credited directly to their bank cards — often within minutes — dramatically reducing the traditional multi-day payout process.

After a successful pilot in May involving over 200 users, some investors reported receiving their funds in under 10 minutes. Ricardo Brizido, CPTO and Co-Founder of Stake, emphasized the importance of speed and reliability: “With Pay to Card, we’re eliminating unnecessary delays and putting returns in our investors’ hands almost instantly. This feature was built to directly solve one of the most common pain points in real estate investing, and it’s already driving strong results”.

The feature launch coincides with rapid growth in real-time finance across the Middle East. Checkout.com’s “State of Digital Commerce in MENA 2025” report highlights a 388% year-on-year surge in Account Funding Transactions (AFTs) in the UAE, reflecting strong demand for immediate payout solutions. The same study recorded a 176% increase in total processing volume from 2023 to 2024 and noted that daily online transactions have jumped 320% since 2020.

Since its 2021 debut, Stake has facilitated over AED 1 billion in property transactions, advancing its mission to democratize real estate investment in high-growth markets. By integrating Pay to Card, Stake reinforces its commitment to customer-centric innovation and operational transparency.

Also Read: Binance Enters Syrian Market As Sanctions Lifted

Remo Giovanni Abbondandolo, General Manager for MENA at Checkout.com, praised the collaboration: “Stake has always led with customer-first financial experiences. Together, we’re meeting the expectations of a region that is no longer just digital-first, but real-time-first. Pay to Card exemplifies how modern payment infrastructure can directly solve investor pain points”.

Pay to Card is now available to all Stake users in the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the United Kingdom. By slashing withdrawal times from days to minutes, Stake and Checkout.com are setting a new standard for seamless, on-demand real estate investing.