Dubai-headquartered marketing startup Journify has secured strategic funding from Shorooq Partners, Bunat Ventures, and Plug and Play, the company announced today, as it doubles its valuation and reports 5x revenue growth over the past six months. The exact valuation and size of the round were not disclosed.
This round follows Journify’s $4 million investment raised in February 2025, led by Silicon Badia with participation from Saudi’s RZM Investment. The startup previously reported reaching $1 million in annual recurring revenue within nine months of launching in March 2024, with campaigns reaching over 30 million users across the MENA region.
The platform, which helps brands activate their first-party customer data for advertising campaigns, is using the fresh capital to accelerate expansion across Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and the broader Gulf region while advancing its AI product roadmap.
Founded in 2023 by Taoufik El Jamali, Omar AlShoubaki, and Amine Chouki, Journify operates an AI-powered data activation platform that enables brands to leverage their customer insights across major advertising platforms including Meta, TikTok, Snapchat, Google, and X. The solution addresses growing challenges in the region’s digital advertising landscape, including stricter privacy regulations, the phasing out of third-party cookies, and increasing demands for measurable ROI.
The marketing platform claims to have demonstrated strong traction with regional brands, delivering significant performance improvements for clients.
According to a statement by the company, retail giant Jarir achieved a 182% increase in Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) and a 51% decrease in Cost Per Purchase using Journify’s platform on Meta. Similarly, Gulf furniture retailer Baytonia saw an 80% increase in ROAS and a 44% drop in acquisition costs when implementing the solution on TikTok.
“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.”
Journify plans to use the new funding to accelerate development of its AI roadmap, focusing on agentic AI systems for personalized customer experiences at scale. The company is also expanding its engineering, product, and commercial teams while strengthening its presence across 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.”
The company is headquartered in both the UAE and US, with technology hubs in Morocco and Jordan, positioning it to serve both regional and international markets as demand for privacy-compliant marketing solutions continues to grow.
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