Awok.com, the United Arab Emirates-based e-commerce marketplace backed by conglomerate Al Faisaliah Group, has shut down operations, KrAsia reported yesterday.
Founded in 2013, Awok ran an online marketplace where customers in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region could purchase a range of consumer products including fashion, electronics and homeware. Its key selling point involved very low entry level prices for goods.
StonePine Ace Partners led Awok’s only funding round, a $30m series A closed in April 2019, through its StonePine Ace Fund, investing alongside Al Faisaliah’s corporate venturing unit, Al Faisaliah Ventures, as well as Endeavor Catalyst.
The company said in a statement on its website: “After seven incredible years of saving money for our customers by creating regional business and a platform for our suppliers and sellers, we are sad to inform you that given the current global situation it left the company no other choice than to close its platform for good.
“The ambition of the company was to bring choice and affordability to everyone in the MENA region by building infrastructure and platforms to enable businesses, but this ambition did not survive the current business environment to come to fruition.”
