Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company and Abu Dhabi Catalyst Partners invest $150 million in 5-year pre-IPO convertible bonds in social media platform, Telegram. Both these UAE entities are going to invest equally in Telegram, each will spend $75 million.
The social media app is among 10 most downloaded apps worldwide and has more than 500 million monthly active users. It gained significant traction after WhatsApp, a Facebook company, changed its privacy policy. Many users decided to change to different messaging apps, among the most popular of which was Telegram.
Pavel Durov, Telegram founder and CEO, said in a statement: “We are honoured by the $150M investment into Telegram from Mubadala and Abu Dubai Catalyst Partners. We look forward to developing this strategic partnership to continue our growth in the MENA region and globally.”
The strategic partnership between the two UAE investment companies and the messaging app is expected to create new collaboration opportunities and develop Abu Dhabi’s ecosystem of innovative and tech-enabled companies. Russian brothers Pavel and Nikolai Durov launched Telegram in 2013 as a secure messaging app.
Mubadala has made a point of committing significant funding into emerging technology and digital focused businesses, cutting across geographies.Following the investment, the company’s regional headquarters will be located in the UAE. The UAE and Saudi are currently competing to attract international companies to move their regional headquarters to their respectful markets. This seems to be a win for the UAE government.
“We believe that Telegram is well-positioned for an inflection point that will transform it into a leading global technology company,” said Faris Sohail Faris Al Mazrui, Head of Mubadala’s Russia and CIS Investment Program. “The company represents a very promising investment opportunity for Mubadala and will sit well within our wider portfolio of pioneering companies looking to transform their respective industries.”
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