• UAE-based logistics startup AHOY has raised $20 million in a fresh funding round from undisclosed investors.
• Founded in 2018 by Jamil Shinawi, Adel Samer and Gerard Sansoni, AHOY offers same-day deliveries to e-commerce businesses across the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
• AHOY claims to have grown 25x in terms of revenue and number of transactions.
• The startup is looking to expand to Africa and Latin America in the coming 12-18 months.
• To date, AHOY has raised $27 million in total and recently launched its own startup studio, The Orchard, to aid the growth of emerging startups.

Press release 

AHOY, a leading movement tech infrastructure company, is enabling a new future of movement and mobility digital networks through ground-breaking technology demonstrated in its inaugural Keynote event in February. It also revealed the details of the latest funding round of $20 million, which takes the total investment from inception to $27 million. The company also plans to do a bridge funding round in the following months to boost its scale-up globally prior to the Series A round.

This announcement was made during the prominent event held on February 22, 2022 named “The Deployment” which attracted the concerned stakeholders that included global investors, companies, start-ups and developers to watch “The Deployment” keynote.

“The Deployment is a celebration of innovative tech infrastructure that is being deployed for the first time from MENA region to the world.” said co-founder and CEO – Jamil Shinawi.

During the keynote, AHOY has showcased how movement is the core of various businesses and tapping into major industries, and how technology is playing a key role on reshaping how organizations are currently operating.

AHOY is a major player in the technology industry and a strong believer that creativity and innovation were always linked to movement. Hence, they have focused on reimagining movement technology and developed a true enterprise grade tech infrastructure to optimize and automate any movement related process. This will enable endless startups, corporates, governments and more to move forward, efficiently and sustainably.

Jamil Shinawi, CEO & Co-Founder said, “The deployment of the AHOY technology across all mobility related sectors offers endless possibilities”.

He added, “this year, AHOY aims to provide 100+ job opportunities for highly skilled software professionals in Dubai and Riyadh. We aim to increase the research and development team activities in UAE & Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and scale our presence into international markets”.

Ahoy hosts regular hackathons for attracting tech talent and allows participants to devise tech solutions that serve a variety of business sectors, he stated.

The company has also announced launching their own startup studio (The Orchard) to support and promote a new generation of startups looking to add real value and create change.  Adel Samer and Gerard Sansoni, Co-Founders expressed “Our support is dedicated to enabling everyone to challenge current practices”.

The Orchard will not only empower startups with cutting edge tech, it will also provide investor networking support and a strategic legal support – essential to the success of any startup – on a pro bono basis. 

One of the first harvests in the orchard, is the impactful and innovative startup PILDD, the first Medi-Tech startup of its kind in MENA.

PILLD will automate and enhance pharmaceutical adherence and medi-care delivery which will elevate the standards and quality of life, removing the barrier of entry allowing e-commerce players and hospitals to work along with medical stakeholders such as pharma and insurance.

Additionally, given the lack of infrastructure and the many challenges the MENA region is currently facing, AHOY has announced their global hybrid solution AHOY Movement Studio (AMS).

AMS is a collection of Software Development tools (APIs, SDKs, and libraries) tailor-made for enterprises needs that will allow developers to build the most enhanced movement related solutions ever.  

Thanks to its cutting-edge technological solutions, AHOY has grown 25x in terms of revenue, number of transactions, and even more in technology deployment and deliverables between 2020 and 2021 exceeding their OKRs and plans.

The company has recently received the “Innovator of the Future” award given at the 50th Arabian Business Awards gala dinner in recognition for the impact that its technology has had in the logistics industry during the pandemic and after.

The keynote has also highlighted how AHOY, with its innovative technologies, is rapidly transforming the landscape in multiple industries simultaneously by making use of AI, spatial and task awareness capabilities, machine learning, decision-making, and automation technologies. 

In terms of its future for growth, AHOY is currently based out of the UAE and Saudi Arabia with a global offering and is expected to rapidly diversify into select African and Latin American countries in the coming 12-18 months.