News

Revibe Has Raised $2.3 Million For Planned MENA Expansion

The Dubai-based online marketplace for refurbished electronics plans to expand across the region while contributing to the circular economy.

Published

3 years ago

July 10, 2023

Nour Nasir

Revibe

Dubai-based startup Revibe has raised $2.3 million in a seed funding round that will allow it to expand its product portfolio across the MENA region, while enhancing the refurbished electronics platform’s contribution to the circular economy.

The investment was led by Egypt’s Flat6Labs and French-based venture capital fund Resonance, plus several other angel investors. Revibe, which primarily sells refurbished smartphones, laptops, and tablets, will now be able to scale its supply chain and diversify its portfolio to include other categories of electronics later this year.

The company was able to grow 500% within seven months across the Gulf countries, with a particular focus on the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

“Our success has come from always meeting our pledge to customers. But we are expanding all the time, and our goal is to gradually introduce all categories of electronics,” explained Hamza Iraqui, co-founder of Revibe.

Revibe’s strategy aligns with the concept of the circular economy — an economic system that focuses on reducing the use of new natural resources and minimizing waste.

Also Read: Dubai-Based Startup Alfii Raises $2.5 Million In Seed Funding

“Refurbished electronics represents a massive opportunity, especially in this time of economic challenges and growing climate awareness, where consumers are more mindful of their carbon impact while facing decreased purchasing power,” noted Maxime Le Dantec, partner and co-founder at Resonance.

Revibe was founded in 2022 and uses a business-to-consumer selling model that offers refurbished electronics at 30-70% less than brand-new items. The company’s team of engineers makes a 50-point check on all products listed on the marketplace and uses artificial intelligence to monitor quality and meet its strict selling standards.

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.