Journify Doubles Valuation and welcomes strategic funding amid 5x revenue growth and GCC expansion
Today's digital landscape presents significant challenges for MENA brands: stricter privacy regulations, disappearing third-party cookies, and increasing ROI demands. Journify offers a simple solution by enabling advertisers to activate their first-party data across major platforms, including Meta, TikTok, Snapchat, Google, and X. This approach converts customer insights into measurable, scalable performance.
Journify's growth is driven by partnerships with forward-thinking brands ready to embrace modern advertising approaches. Retail leader Jarir has used Journify's AI platform to activate their first-party data on Meta, resulting in a 182% increase in Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) and a 51% decrease in Cost Per Purchase (CPP). Similarly, Baytonia, a leading furniture retail and marketplace brand in the Gulf region, implemented Journify's solution on TikTok, achieving an 80% increase in ROAS and a 44% drop in CPP. These results clearly demonstrate the tangible value of Journify's approach.
These successes underscore Journify's core mission: making first-party data activation both accessible and effective for brands competing in today's fragmented attention economy.
To meet growing demand, Journify is accelerating its AI product roadmap, focusing on agentic AI systems for 1:1 personalization at scale. The company is expanding teams and strengthening its Gulf presence. With targeted AI investments, Journify will soon deploy autonomous agents for personalized experiences, precision targeting, automated media optimization, and improved conversion rates throughout the customer journey.
"In today's privacy-first landscape, brands need solutions that deliver growth and profitability," said Taoufik El Jamali, Co-Founder and CEO of Journify. "We're reimagining brand-customer relationships. Our goal is to enable businesses of all sizes to leverage first-party data efficiently. Our customers' results validate our approach and signal a new era in digital marketing."
The timing couldn't be better. MENA stands as one of the world's fastest-growing digital advertising markets. According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) MENA, regional digital ad spend surged by 20 percent in 2024 alone, reaching $7bn. Yet despite this impressive growth, many advertisers continue to grapple with data fragmentation, lack of transparency in the ecosystem, and insufficient measurement frameworks.
"Brands across this region increasingly demand greater transparency and efficiency from their marketing investments," said Ian Manning, Executive Director at IAB MENA. "Solutions centered on first-party data, AI-powered optimization, and measurable ROI are best positioned to lead this next growth phase."
To fuel its momentum, Journify recently secured strategic investment from the leading alternative investments firm, Shorooq, regulated by FSRA ADGM as a Fund Manager, Bunat Ventures, and Plug and Play. This funding will accelerate Journify's AI roadmap development, support hiring across engineering, product, and commercial teams, and drive further expansion into key GCC markets.
"The team's clarity of vision and execution has deeply impressed us," said Omer Zabit, Partner at Shorooq. "Journify addresses one of digital advertising's most critical gaps today: the underutilization of first-party data. As regulations evolve and brands demand better results, this will be the infrastructure marketers rely on for the next decade."
As the region's digital landscape evolves, Journify is poised to set the new standard for privacy-first, AI-powered marketing.
About Journify
Founded in 2023 by Taoufik El Jamali, Omar AlShoubaki, and Amine Chouki, Journify is an AI-powered data activation platform purpose-built for consumer brands. Headquartered in the UAE and US, Journify helps marketers unlock the full value of their first-party data to drive measurable growth across Meta, TikTok, Snapchat, Google, X, and other leading platforms. By turning customer insights into actionable audiences and optimizing media spend, Journify enables intelligent, privacy-first marketing that delivers real business outcomes with less guesswork.
About Shorooq
Founded in 2017, Shorooq is a multi-dimensional investment firm. Our venture capital and credit practice invests in the most innovative technology companies across the MENA region and beyond. We have built deep sectoral expertise in fintech, platforms, software, and deep tech. Shorooq has backed category leaders such as Pure Harvest Smart Farms, Nymcard, Tamara, Sarwa, Lean Technologies, TruKKer, Mozn and Lendo.
Shorooq was built on the values of building with founders and identifying attractive returns for investors. We pride ourselves on a local presence across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Korea.
Shorooq refers to a group of companies that are affiliates of each other and which operate under this business name, of which Shorooq Partners Ltd (regulated by the ADGM Financial Services Regulatory Authority FSRA FSP: 190004 as a category 3C Fund Manager) is a member.
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