The Middle East’s homegrown e-commerce platform noon has secured $500 million in fresh funding from investors that include Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, as the company advances plans for a potential initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter, as per a report by Semafor. Noon founder Mohammed Alabbar, the Dubai-based businessman who also chairs real estate giant Emaar Properties, is also among the backers, the sources said, requesting anonymity.
The latest capital raise comes at a time when competition across the Gulf’s digital commerce sector is intensifying, with both regional startups and global players expanding aggressively to capture the region’s young, affluent, and digitally savvy consumer base.
Founded in 2016 with the PIF holding a 50% stake and investors led by Alabbar owning the remainder, noon operates an online marketplace alongside food delivery and online grocery services across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.
As per the same report, the company launched only months after Amazon acquired Dubai-based Souq.com for $580 million, marking the beginning of a highly competitive e-commerce landscape in the region. Noon has so far raised around $2.7 billion in funding, and its most recent valuation was close to $10 billion, Alabbar told the Financial Times in September, adding that the company is targeting an IPO within the next two years.
The funding round also coincides with an active period for the PIF, which has recently led a $55 billion takeover of Electronic Arts and is among the backers of Paramount Skydance’s $108 billion hostile bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, even as it trims budgets for some domestic investments.
