MEVP, a leading venture capital firm focusing on the MENA invested in Wego, one of the largest online travel marketplaces across the MENA region, in exchange for an equity ownership. This deal will help reinforcing and expanding Wego’s regional footprint.

MEVP is investing in Wego as part of the company’s latest equity round alongside MBC Group (Middle East Broadcasting Centre), which had announced an investment and strategic partnership with Wego in July.

Wego was founded in Singapore in 2005 but is now dual-headquartered in Dubai and Singapore after recording rapid growth across MENA. It entered the region by launching a fully localized experience just in time to meet the demand from a new generation of travelers wanting to shop for and book flights and hotels on their smartphones. Wego quickly grew to have over 10 million monthly visits by collaborating with over 700 local and global airlines, hotels and online travel agents.

“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,” said Ross Veitch, Wego CEO & cofounder.

Walid Hanna, MEVP founder and CEO, said: “Online travel in MENA is a large vertical and continues to grow rapidly aided by a shift in consumer behavior from offline to online. Wego is capitalizing on such favorable market dynamics and is already a leading travel brand that is highly recognized by travelers in the region, especially Saudi Arabia. We are also pleased to have media giant MBC onboard 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.”

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.