Jordan’s Faylasof raises $500,000 Pre-Series A for its online bookstore

Amman-based online bookstore Faylasof has raised $500,000 as Pre-Series A funding from Saudi-based Wise Ventures, the startup told MENAbytes today. The startup before this round had raised capital from Amman-based Adam Tech Ventures, a VC firm founded by founders of leading Arabic encyclopedia Mawdoo3, and a UAE-based angel investor.

Founded by Mohamed Zatara in 2015, Faylasof currently sells over 2 million Arabic & English titles, shipping them all over the world with a focus on MENA. The platform features titles from over 4,000 publishers in nine countries and has its offices in seven countries across the region including Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar.

Falyasof claims to have sold over 50,000 books in the last twelve months, shipping them to over 72 countries.

Mohamed Zatara, the founder & CEO of Faylasof thinks that the direct integration option that it offers to publishers, allowing them to control their inventory and pricing, is an edge Fayalsof has over its competitors.

“In addition to that, having a presence in seven markets of the region to source publishers and being able to keep tabs on the quality of books, has also served us as an advantage,” he said speaking to MENAbytes.

A representative of Wise Capital, in a conversation with MENAbytes, said, “As a concept and an investment opportunity, Faylasof offers something that’s genuinely unique. The company presents an exciting model which is defining, and spearheading a whole new way of serving their clients and digitizing an industry that’s in need for a fresh start.”

Dina Shawar, the CEO of Adam Tech Ventures, speaking to MENAbytes, added, “We continue to believe highly in Mohamed, the founder, and his team. We are very excited to see what they will build out in this next phase. Faylasof’s competitive advantage is their customer-centric approach. We are confident that this will enable them to win aggressive market competition.”

Faylasof plans to use the latest investment to continue building different tools with the aim of digitizing the relationship between authors, publishers, and stores.