STV, a Riyadh-based venture capital fund anchored by Saudi Telecom Group, has led funding in Unifonic, a cloud communication platform for global emerging markets.
The $500 million STV fund, which invests in growth stage technology companies globally, led a $21 million Series A round with participation from RTF, Endeavor Catalyst, ELM, and Raed Ventures.
This transaction represents the first institutional capital raise for Unifonic and is one of the largest Series A financings in the MENA region, a statement said.
It added that the capital will be used to scale company growth and sales in multiple markets and industries and invest in further Unifonic product platform development, in particular, the advancement of its machine-learning models.
Founded in 2008, Saudi-based Unifonic provides cloud-based communication tools to business customers and enables integration of text- and voice-based solutions via its API platform.
By combining cloud-based software, telephony APIs and real-time data intelligence, Unifonic said it eliminates the need for costly hardware infrastructure and makes business communication simple, fast, and cost-effective.
The company has been profitable for over 8 years, has experienced double-digit monthly revenue growth and has grown to over 100 employees in five countries.
Today, Unifonic provides cloud-based access to more than 720 mobile networks in 190 countries across nine regional markets, with over 5,000 business customers such as companies like Careem, Dominos Pizza, Jarir Bookstore, and HungerStation.
"Unifonic is a great example of the type of founder-driven, capital-efficient business we want to invest in. It has rapidly developed a leadership position in the fast-growing cloud communications market," said Abdulrahman Tarabzouni, CEO of STV.
"The founders have created a profitable and growing technology company, and we look forward to working together to take this to the next level.”
“Using the latest cloud communications technology, our company delivers tools and platforms that allow businesses to engage efficiently with customers all over the world,” added Ahmed Hamdan, CEO of Unifonic. "We are excited to be working with STV, RTF and investors from both Silicon Valley and other global markets that provide not only capital but also vast strategic experience in scaling high-impact innovative companies."