Journify, a data activation startup founded by three Moroccans and headquartered in the UAE, has doubled its valuation just six months after posting fivefold revenue growth — a rare feat in MENA’s fast-evolving advertising technology space.
The company, founded in 2023 by Taoufik El Jamali, Omar Al Shoubaki, and Amine Chouki, announced a new strategic investment round backed by Shorooq Partners (regulated by FSRA ADGM), Bunat Ventures, and global accelerator Plug and Play. Though the exact valuation remains undisclosed, the company says it has more than doubled since the previous round, as demand for AI-powered, privacy-compliant marketing infrastructure soars in the Gulf.
At the heart of Journify’s model is a simple but timely proposition: helping brands across the Middle East activate and monetise first-party data — the data customers willingly share with them — across platforms like Meta, Google, TikTok, X, and Snapchat. This strategy is gaining urgency in the wake of sweeping privacy regulations and the deprecation of third-party cookies globally.
From stealth to scale in record time
Since launching just over a year ago, Journify has expanded operations across Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and other Gulf markets. The company says it is now powering campaigns for major regional brands, including Jarir and Baytonia, delivering outcomes that traditional marketing tech stacks have struggled to match.
For instance, Saudi retail giant Jarir reportedly saw a 182% increase in Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) and a 51% drop in Cost Per Purchase (CPP) after deploying Journify’s tools on Meta. Baytonia, a leading furniture e-commerce player, used Journify to optimise TikTok campaigns and achieved an 80% jump in ROAS with a 44% reduction in CPP.
“These are not vanity metrics,” said Taoufik El Jamali, Journify’s co-founder and CEO. “They reflect what happens when you put first-party data at the centre of performance marketing. We believe this is the future of brand-customer relationships.”
The company is now doubling down on its product roadmap — investing heavily in agentic AI systems designed to personalise user experiences at scale. According to Journify, its next releases will include autonomous agents that can execute precise audience segmentation, automate cross-platform media buying, and continuously optimise for conversions.
Meeting a generational marketing shift
Journify’s positioning is striking a chord with brands navigating a major shift in the marketing landscape. According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) MENA, regional digital ad spend hit $7bn in 2024, a 20% year-on-year increase. Yet marketers still face serious challenges: fragmented customer data, low visibility into campaign ROI, and legacy systems ill-suited for today’s privacy-first internet.
“Brands across this region increasingly demand greater transparency and efficiency from their marketing investments,” said Ian Manning, executive director at IAB MENA. “Solutions centred on first-party data, AI-powered optimisation, and measurable ROI are best positioned to lead this next growth phase.”
For investors like Shorooq, that promise was compelling. “Journify addresses one of digital advertising’s most critical gaps: the underutilisation of first-party data,” said Omer Zabit, Partner at Shorooq. “As regulations evolve and brands demand better results, this will be the infrastructure marketers rely on for the next decade.”
The firm, which has backed major regional players including fintechs Tamara, Sarwa, and Lean Technologies, views Journify’s execution as a key differentiator in a noisy adtech landscape.
Despite its Gulf roots, Journify has drawn particular attention in Morocco, the home country of its founding team. CEO El Jamali, in particular, is no newcomer to the tech scene. He previously co-founded Unyk, acquired by French professional network Viadeo, and Viral Ninja, which later merged into Sociable Labs. Yet in his native Morocco, El Jamali remains under the radar — a surprising reality given the region’s growing appetite for tech entrepreneurship.
While the startup has yet to announce operations in North Africa, observers say the success of Journify could inspire a new generation of Moroccan founders to look beyond local markets and build regionally scalable infrastructure.
What’s next
With fresh capital, Journify is expanding its engineering, product, and commercial teams and ramping up go-to-market efforts across the GCC. The startup is also working on new AI layers designed for campaign automation and predictive analytics, signalling that it’s not just building tools — it’s laying the foundation for what could become the default marketing operating system in the region.
In a region flush with capital but short on scalable marketing tech, Journify is positioning itself as both a product leader and a test case for how MENA’s next wave of tech unicorns might emerge: data-first, privacy-aligned, and globally minded from day one.