News

Retail Enablement Company Zid Raises $50 Million

Saudi-based retail enablement company, Zid, has successfully raised $50 million in a funding drive led by IMPACT46.

Published

4 years ago

October 18, 2022

retail enablement company zid raises $50 million

Zid, the Saudi Arabian retail enablement company, has seen investment from the likes of Aramco venture capital arm (Waed Ventures) and Endeavor Catalyst in a recent round of fundraising, led by IMPACT46, paving the way for future expansion into new markets and helping to further modernize the retail sector.

The recent funding comes after a string of successes for Zid, after the company doubled its revenues from both subscriptions and transactions, as well as seeing a 50% increase in orders, with 7 million users now having made transactions through the platform.

Zid was created to enable merchants to grow their online selling channels. It is now taking on a broader mission to modernize the entire retail sector, improving efficiencies and helping business owners increase their profits.

The company has rolled out solutions enabling retailers to improve both shipping (ZidShip) and payments (ZidPay) and plans to offer financial and cross-border shipping products in the near future.

Also Read: Aramex Has Successfully Tested Drone Deliveries In Oman

“We appreciate the continuous belief and trust that our investors have put into the company, the leadership, and the team. We are focused on being the regional optimum solution for each economy we operate in, having proved it in Saudi Arabia,” says Sultan AlAsmi, Co-founder and CEO of Zid.

Like international giants such as Shopify, Zid is building a community that enables merchants to master online selling with a full-fledged eCommerce ecosystem equipped with sophisticated features. Unlike larger corporations, however, Zid is focused on fostering deep connections with merchants and strengthening the community as a whole. After completing the recent round of funding with help from asset management and advisory organization IMPACT46, the future looks bright for this progressive retail enablement company.

News

Samsung And Spotify Offer Free Premium Deal In MENA

Nearly seven in ten streams in the region come from 18-to-34-year-olds — the audience Samsung is hoping to entice into its ecosystem.

Published

7 days ago

August 7, 2026

Nour Nasir

Samsung

Samsung has announced a partnership with Spotify spanning the Middle East, North Africa, and Türkiye, bundling Spotify Premium with select devices across its ecosystem. The headline offer — up to four months of Premium for free — is a first for the region.

Customers in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Türkiye who buy any OLED or 98-inch television, or any Galaxy S or Z series mobile device, get four months of Spotify Premium. The offer, tiered by market and device, is available at retail and on Samsung.com, and redeemed through the Samsung Promotion and Samsung Members apps.

For Samsung, the strategy is less about free music than about lock-in. The Korean tech giant’s pitch is continuity: a track starts on a Galaxy smartphone through Galaxy Buds on the commute, moves to a Samsung TV and soundbar in the living room, and stays controllable from a Galaxy Watch. The more seamlessly music travels between those devices, the harder it becomes to swap any one of them for a rival’s.

“Technology should bring people closer to the things they love, and few things connect people the way music does,” said Omar Saheb, Regional VP of Marketing and Online Business at Samsung Electronics MENA. The partnership, he added, gives customers “a genuine reason to choose Samsung for the experience, not only the product”.

Also Read: Shokz OpenFit Pro Review: Open-Ear Audio Finally Grows Up

For subscribers, Premium brings the usual package: ad-free listening, offline downloads, richer audio quality on Galaxy Buds and Samsung sound devices, and Jam, which lets friends build a shared queue.

“At Spotify, we are always working to make every listening moment feel more personal, meaningful, and worth it,” said Rami Jamal, Head of Partnerships at Spotify for South Asia, Middle East, and Africa.

The demographics go a long way to explaining the strategy. Across MENA, Türkiye, and Pakistan, nearly seven in ten Spotify streams come from listeners aged 18 to 34, according to the company — precisely the audience Samsung wants inside its hardware ecosystem before buying habits harden.