Doha: After growing rapidly in the domestic market, Snoonu- Qatar’s home grown success story- is aiming to foray into foreign markets. Qatar tech start-up is planning to enter two GCC markets- Oman and Kuwait- this year. Rather than starting its operations from the scratch in these countries, the company aims to acquire already established companies in the market.
“In the next two months we are planning to enter two GCC countries, Oman and Kuwait,” Hamad Al Hajri, Founder and CEO of Snoonu, told The Peninsula in an exclusive interview. “We are looking at already established company in the market and acquire it. We are not looking to start from the zero in new market. We are looking at the acquisition of already established company in that market,” said Hajri.
Founder and CEO of Snoonu Hamad Al Hajri
With over 20 years of experience in business innovation, seasoned entrepreneur Hamad Al Hajri founded Snoonu in 2019 and has steered the company to new heights. With over 300,000 users, Snoonu plans to expand and diversify its offering by adding new features and services to its platform. “We are growing with an average 55 percent every month,” said Al Hajri, explaining the rapid growth of company.
Having seen astronomical growth in the past few years, the company aims to become Qatar’s first unicorn. The term unicorn refers to any startup that reaches the valuation of $1bn.
The company plans to list its share in the stock market in 2025 and raise 25 percent of its valuation. “We are looking to raise 25 percent of our company valuation in 2025 and the funds will be used to fund our expansion,” said Hajri. The plan is to list shares in the local bourse or in United States’ tech-heavy stock index Nasdaq.
“Our goal is to be the first IPO (Initial Public Offering) by a technology company in Qatar in 2025. We have two options, either to go for Qatar or for Nasdaq. The aim is to be the first unicorn in Qatar with a market value of $1bn,” said Hajri.
“We have two options but Qatar stock market is one of the best. The investors are available and the system is good, so it is very attractive for us. Our first priority is Qatar’s stock market,” he added.
The company started as a food delivery company but gradually expanded its portfolio to grocery, pharmacy, toys, electronics, flowers, gifts, cosmetics and other items. Snoonu is now one of Qatar’s most popular e-commerce delivery companies and is known for its speed and efficiency.
Sharing his vision for the company, he said “We are trying to position ourselves as a tech leader in the market. We want to be more efficient and AI (Artificial Intelligence) driven company.”
“Our goal is to deliver everything humans need. Vertically, we want to expand more into robotics business to increase efficiency of our fulfillment centre. We want to go with technology of the smart shelves, AI (artificial Intelligence) driven inventory management system etc,” he added.
The company, which now employs over 1,000 people, aims to revolutionise the Qatari market with the fastest services and the most diverse marketplace.
