OSN Group, owner of MENA-focused Netflix rival OSN+, has announced a new $55 million investment into Anghami, the MENA-focused Spotify rival.
The two merged operations earlier this year, creating what they called a regional “entertainment powerhouse.” The combined platforms boast 18,000 hours of premium video content, including HBO content, and over 100 million Arabic and international songs and podcasts. It came with a commitment from OSN to “inject up to USD $50 million” in Anghami for a majority stake.
The new investment will enable the platforms to expand their content library, “enhance user experience through cutting-edge technologies, and strengthen their presence across the MENA region,” Anghami said in a statement on Monday (December 16).
“It is also aimed to drive innovations such as AI-driven personalization and next-generation streaming technologies.”
“This new round of funding reflects our unwavering belief in Anghami’s potential to lead the MENA region in digital entertainment,” OSN Group CEO Joe Kawkabani said. “Together, we will continue redefining how audiences experience premium content, ensuring our platform remains a pioneer in the industry.”
Anghami has reported strong streaming video user base growth since the merger, up 41% between April and October 2024. Average revenue per user (ARPU) jumped 18% in Q3 2024.
The company has also relaunched the OSN+ platform, which it says has resulted in higher engagement, and launched a new 4K Premium Plan with Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision. It also improved an AI recommendation engine, which Anghami says “result[ed] in enhanced content discoverability.”
“This new round of funding reflects our unwavering belief in Anghami’s potential to lead the MENA region in digital entertainment.”
Joe Kawkabani, OSN Group
“The success of this partnership is a testament to the power of collaboration and innovation,” said Elie Habib, CEO of Anghami and OSN+.
“With this new investment from OSN Group, we are poised to elevate the digital entertainment experience for MENA audiences even further and expand our reach.”
The new investment round comes a few months after Anghami settled a legal dispute and struck a licensing agreement with ESMAA, reputed to be the first rights management agency operating in the Gulf states. It was launched by MENA-based music publisher PopArabia in 2020, the same year PopArabia formed a JV with Reservoir and assumed the role of sub-publisher for all of Reservoir’s copyrights in the region.
Speaking with MBW, PopArabia Founder and CEO Spek (Hussain Yoosuf) explained that the Anghami agreement was “a big deal” for ESMAA and for the Gulf.
“We’ve been able to put this deal together on behalf of not just PopArabia and Reservoir repertoire, but to include essentially all of the PopArabia sub-published repertoire, and the ESMAA represented rights group, which includes IMPEL,” he said.
“Effectively, the vast majority of the independent music [publishing] community, we expect to go through this deal. It’s the first time that an entity in the Gulf has been able to administer a deal of this kind, with the magnitude of the global industry flowing through a local entity.”Music Business Worldwide
