We are leading a 33.75M SAR investment round in Telfaz11 — our first investment in the Region's digital media space
This deal represents one of our first steps towards investing in a new media industry for MENA. The digital revolution transformed how content is generated and consumed globally, and the rules of the game in the media space are changing at an accelerating rate; especially in our region. We believe that empowering leading players in the digital media ecosystem —connecting areas spanning digital distribution platforms to original content creation engines— is an inevitability and one that comes with a tremendous opportunity.
The demand side of the media market is strong: MENA is the second largest region globally in terms of views for some of the world’s largest video platforms. Additionally, the growth in online video demand is among the highest worldwide when compared to global averages (Saudi Arabia has the highest views per capita globally). Moreover, the majority of these views occur on smart devices (Saudi Arabia is on par with advanced nations such as South Korea and the US when it comes to consuming content on smart devices). This a great demand-side story.
On the flip side, we think the market’s supply side is relatively weak compared to such strong regional demand. Moreover, many traditional broadcasting and content companies, even globally, are trying to catch up with changes in the space. Dealing with disruption is hard but there are emerging vehicles that proved to have the right vision and capabilities to create new forms of value in this new media landscape.
Telfaz11 is one of those vehicles we believe in and in its founders. Founded in 2011 in Riyadh by Alaa Faden, Ali Al Kalthami, and Ibrahim Al Khairallah, Telfaz11 was consistently able to create high quality original content and leverage digital tools and distribution platforms. They have also done that in a way that reflects a deep understanding of the industry’s new dynamics and the needs and opportunities of the regional audiences and market. Today, we announce leading an investment round of 33.75M SAR to accelerate the company’s growth and scale-up plans.
This is our first step. We still have so much to do but we see the size of the opportunity and the building blocks that can be connected and fueled to create new media champions for the region.