Arabnet Arabnet

Dubai-based ecommerce platform, Souq.com, has announced its acquisition of Dubai-based courier startup, Wing.ae.

Founded by Muzaffar Karabaev in 2016, Wing.ae is an on-demand delivery and courier marketplace and first received funding from Souq.com in August 2016. The acquisition, which is Souq's first since being bought by Amazon, will allow the ecommerce platform to provide innovative mobile and web-based delivery solutions for its customers and merchants and will also allow Wing.ae to continue investing in growing its same and next day delivery service in the region.

Ronaldo Mouchawar, Souq.com CEO and co-founder, said: "At Souq.com, our customers will remain our key focus and we will continue to deliver an exceptional online shopping experience. Fast dependable delivery is key to this, and Wing.ae provides Souq.com customers with more convenience for their same and next day delivery. With Amazon's support, we are putting all our efforts in providing an ever-improving shopping experience for customers in the Middle East."

Wing.ae’s fast-delivery network will potentially help Amazon build out its Prime business in the region. Prime is Amazon’s the subscription-based service that provides free and fast shipping to members on many different items, along with a bunch of other perks like music and video services. Amazon has already started selling a handful of Amazon-branded products through Souq.com as it moves to grab a larger share of the Middle East's online shopping market.