News

Riyadh Will Become Home To The Second Snap Creator Studio Globally

AR is expected to play a major role in making the metaverse come to life, and Snap could be an important player in the rapidly emerging successor to the internet.

Published

5 years ago

November 4, 2021

David Morelo

riyadh will become home to the second snap creator studio globally

Snap has announced that it will launch its second Snap Creator Studio in 2022, and the company chose Riyadh as its location.

The first Creator Studio was opened by Snap in Paris to support local creators in delivering experiences for Snapchat and provide publisher brands with a physical point of contact. The Riyadh location, the first of its kind in the region, will serve the same purpose.

Saudi Arabia was an easy choice for Snap because Snapchat has a monthly addressable reach of more than 19.5 million in the Kingdom, with 90 percent of its users being 13-34-year-olds, a demographic that advertisers see as highly attractive.

“The decision to open a Creator Studio in Saudi Arabia reflects the level of creativity we see on Snapchat amongst local users, the high levels of engagement on the app, and our desire to deepen the level of support that we can provide to the creator community and our business partners,” said Hussein Freijeh, General Manager for MENA at Snap.

Snap hopes that the Creator Studio will help attract talented content creators, Lens developers, and people interested in working on Snapchat Games, Minis, Layers, and other offerings. Drawing on its global network of creatives and technical experts, it will provide ample in-person and virtual skill-sharing opportunities.

“The new Creator Studio will thus help inspire the next generation of creators about the possibilities of using the Snap camera across the arts, education, media, and cultural sectors,” added Freijeh.

Also Read: SpaceX To Launch The Arab World’s Most Advanced Satellite In 2023

Inspiring the next generation of Snap creators shouldn’t be too difficult because over 80 percent of consumers in Saudi Arabia already believe that Augmented Reality (AR) will be both useful and important in the next five years, according to Snap’s own data.

Several major tech companies have very recently announced their push towards the metaverse, most notably Meta and Microsoft. AR is expected to play a major role in making the metaverse come to life, and Snap could be an important player in the rapidly emerging successor to the internet.

News

NEOPAY Wants To Follow Merchants Across Channels And Borders

A controlling 65% stake in noon payments would give NEOPAY access to marketplace sellers, online merchants and the payment flows they generate.

Published

1 day ago

October 5, 2026

Nour Nasir

neopay wants to follow merchants across channels and borders

It’s been a long time since checkouts were single defined places. A merchant might take payments at a physical register, on its own website and through an online marketplace, sometimes in more than one country. NEOPAY wants to follow those transactions wherever they happen.

The UAE payments company has entered into an agreement to acquire a 65% controlling stake in noon payments. NEOPAY already runs the acquiring infrastructure that lets merchants accept card payments, along with omnichannel acceptance and a merchant services platform. This new deal would add noon payments’ embedded payments platform, e-commerce gateway and merchant network across the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. That would considerably expand both NEOPAY’s digital commerce capabilities and its regional reach.

For merchants, the attraction is a single provider for online and in-store payments, plus faster settlements, data and analytics, and value-added financial services.

“Payments should be simple, reliable, and built for the markets they serve,” said Faraz Khalid, CEO of noon. His counterpart at NEOPAY, Vibhor Mundhada, added: “We have built a strong payments business in the UAE, and our ambition is now to take that capability across the region”. The acquisition, Mundhada added, would “expand our footprint into Saudi Arabia and Egypt” while reinforcing NEOPAY’s position at home.

Also Read: In Kuwait, Your Surgeon Might Be Operating From Another Country

NEOPAY is also keen to point out potential payment volume increases. The company says noon payments’ integrations with marketplace sellers and online merchants create high transaction density in some of the region’s fastest-growing digital commerce segments. It also believes control of the business would give it access to those merchant relationships and payment flows, and speed up the rollout of alternative payment methods and installment options.

The combined roadmap targets faster merchant onboarding, better payment performance, tighter fraud controls and embedded financial services. The deal could also strengthen cross-border payments and settlement along key regional commerce corridors.