Egyptian Celebrity Shout-Out Platform Minly Acquires UAE Rival Oulo

Already considered one of the fastest growing media and entertainment startups in the region, Egyptian celebrity shout-out platform, Minly, has announced the acquisition of a Dubai-based counterpart, Oulo.

With Oulo mainly focusing on famous faces from the Levant region, the acquisition will expands Minly’s reach, with Oulo set to operate under the Minly brand. As part of the deal Oulo’s founder and CEO, Kamal Nazha, is set to join Minly as Chief Commercial Officer.#

With over 130,000 users and 1,000 celebrities, the acquisition plays into Minly’s strategy of developing a full-stack product suite that empowers content creators and celebrities to deliver what it believes can be meaningful experiences to their fans.

With 30% of the Arab world’s 450 million population between the ages of 18 and 30, the acquisition offers a prime opportunity for Minly’s founders, Tarek Hosnt and Mohamed El-Shinnawy to take a bigger piece of a growing pie.

“Consumers want authentic access to celebrities more than ever before, whilst stars need platforms to connect personally with their fanbase,” said El-Shinnawy, who also serves as Minly’s CEO. “These market dynamics are very powerful, and scale is a competitive differentiator.”

“Minly and Oulo share a common passion to create authentic enjoyable moments by connecting creators with their fans in unique ways,” he added. “So we’re very excited about our future together in this fast- growing market.”

The news comes off the back of an 'oversubscribed' $3.6 million seed round earlier thos year, co-led by 4DX Ventures, B&Y Venture Partners and Global Ventures, and including particpation from angel investors from across the world, including Scooter Braun, Anthony Saleh, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Jason Finger, Arieh Mimran, and Tamim Jabr.