Emirati Tech Firm Astra Tech Acquires VoIP App BOTIM

Astra Tech, a UAE-based technology development and investment company, has acquired BOTIM, the region’s popular VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) solution. The acquisition will enable Astra Tech to create a super app with instant messaging and digital payments.

Astra Tech’s recent $500 million funding round led by G42, artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing company in the UAE, is accelerating the relaunch of BOTIM. The value of the transaction was not disclosed. 

As one of the MENA region’s largest communications platforms, BOTIM has 90 million registered users and 25 million active users. In addition to VoIP calls, it also provides money transfer and bill payments services. Through the acquisition, Astra Tech will be able to expand beyond super apps and build the reign’s first Ultra app with BOTIM. Additional plans for BOTIM will be announced during Q1 2023.

“The need for an all-encompassing app accessible to all customers that can re-steer economics in the right direction while giving customers, merchants, and investors a fair deal is paramount,” Abdallah Abu Sheikh, Founder of Astra Tech, tells StartupScene. “BOTIM will be the first of its kind in the region to simplify interactions of hundreds of millions of users, allowing them to engage and transact seamlessly. Acquiring BOTIM puts us on a path to continue our mission of disrupting consumer technology and building a global benchmark of what an Ultra-app should look like.”

This is Astra Tech’s latest acquisition after taking over Rizek, home cleaning services, and Payby, a fintech company in 2022.

Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) have been gaining momentum in the Middle East lately. According to a recent report by the Boston Consulting Group, the Middle East recorded 283 deals in the first quarter of 2022, an increase of 16% during the same period last year, with a total value of $23.8 billion.

A number of acquisitions took place in the region in 2022 including USA’s Astute Imaging acquiring Egypt’s Dileny Tech, Mexico’s Kavak acquiring Oman’s Carzaty, and UAE’s Letswork acquiring Krow in Portugal.