MEVP invests in online travel search engine Wego

Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP), one of the largest VC firms in the MENA region, has announced its investment in leading MENA online travel search engine, Wego, in a deal that sees MEVP become an equity-holder in the business.

The investment follows Middle East Broadcasting Centre (MBC) Group's July announcement that they have invested in a strategic partnership with Wego as part of their latest equity round. The investments are intended to facilitate a wider regional footprint in MENA.

Wego is dual-headquartered in Dubai and Singapore and has quickly grown to become the region's most popular online travel comparison service, with over 10 million visitors per month and collaborations with more than 700 local and global airlines, hotels and online travel agents.

Commenting on MEVP's investment, MEVP Founder and CEO Walid Hanna said: "Online travel in MENA is a large vertical and continues to grow rapidly, aided by a shift in consumer behaviour from offline to online. Wego is capitalising on such favourable market dynamics and is already a leading travel brand that is highly recognised by travellers in the region, especially Saudi Arabia.

"We are also pleased to have media giant MBC on board as a strategic partner with whom we have had three other successful partnerships on other platforms. Wego has an exciting growth plan and with the support of MBC and MEVP, we believe it is well positioned to dominate the travel metasearch play in MENA."

Ross Veitch, Wego CEO & Co-Founder added: "With Wego's rapid MENA expansion we decided to seek out smart investors from the region who have deep experience and connections and in MEVP we've definitely found that and more. I welcome the MEVP investment and look forward to working with their team as we develop Wego's business across the MENA region."

MEVP joins existing Wego investors including Tiger Global Management, Crescent Point Group and Square Peg Capital. Dubai-based investment bank Arqaam Capital helped facilitate this transaction.