Transforming of Africa’s Entertainment Business Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Africa’s entertainment industry hit such a devastating roadblock, many feared the industry could actually come to a halt. With cinemas and live performances suspended and people spending more time indoors, there had to be a way out for entertainers across the continent.
Egypt-based entrepreneurs, Mohamed El-Shinnawy, Tarek Hosny and Bassel El-Toukhy moved to create a platform that will bridge the social distance between stars and their fans across the MENA region, all the while creating a viable means of generating revenue.
And Last year, they launched Minly, an online marketplace where users buy personalised videos and shoutouts from their favourite celebrities.
It’s now obvious that these entrepreneurs were on to something special, as the platform has witnessed explosive organic growth with over 50,000 registered users and an impressive list of top celebrities across the region.
Minly recently secured a $3.6 million in an oversubscribed seed funding round led by led 4DX Ventures, B&Y Venture Partners, and Global Ventures.
Co-founder, El-Shinnawy said “With this new funding and the incredible group of partners that joined us, we are ready to scale across the region and introduce an exciting suite of new products”. He added that “The creator economy is in its infancy and growing at lightning speed. We have the opportunity to build this category’s first unicorn in MENA.”
Other participants in the seed funding round include leading regional funds and angel investors such as Scooter Braun, founder of SB Projects; WndrCo; Jason Finger, founder of Seamless and Grubhub; Arieh Mimran, co-founder and chief investment officer of to.org; and Tamim Jabr, executive director for International Investments at Kingdom Holding Co.
Minly aspires to go beyond its current products and services to become a full-fledged entertainment economy platform that enables content producers to offer meaningful experiences to their audience across different mediums.
Peter Orth, co-founder and general partner at 4DX Ventures said Minly is significantly transforming the way celebrities interact with their fans in the MENA region.
“The team has both the ambition and the expertise to build a full-stack digital interaction platform that could change the way digital content is created and consumed in the region. We’re thrilled to partner with Minly and to help them reach their full potential”.
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