Ronaldo Mouchawar is one of the first men from MENA (Middle East-North Africa) to create his own marketplace across the region.
As a Syrian businessman, he has all the tools to enhance the platform that has been running for 17 years.
As the CEO of Souq.com, his knowledge of the market has attracted a lot of customers. It has become a hub for several products including smartphones, fashion tools, and more.
Now, his startup was an important piece of Amazon after the acquisition took place in 2022. The Seattle tech giant eyes expanding the platform in MENA as Ronaldo remains as the VP of the department.
Who is Ronaldo Mouchawar?
According to Arab News, Mouchawar is initially not invested in learning business since he used to play basketball for SC Aleppo, a Syria-based team.
In the late 1980s, he went to the United States to pursue his bachelor's degree at Northeastern University. After graduating from Boston, he finished his master's degree in computer science.
His first work involves being an IT specialist at EDS, a company owned by Ross Perot. Many tasks are going on here, including video scanning for automakers and image processing.
Mouchawar noticed that the tech development in the Americas was huge, so he decided to see if he could deliver it to his home region.
At that time, digital e-commerce was only getting started in the Middle East. Mouchawar tested the waters with Maktoob.com, an online service based in Jordan, which was founded by Hussam Khoury and Samih Toukan.
The three created an Arabic version of email where Arabic people can use regardless of where they are. The tool includes a chatting and messaging feature.
"We immediately saw traction with young people. It was all about self-expression because we did not produce our own content - it was entirely user-generated," Ronaldo told Arab News.
Despite its popularity, Maktoob has not earned well. The team came up with an idea to monetize the service and create an "e-commerce" section for the customers.
For Mouchawar, the transition was not easy. The startup faced many challenges, including selling products and encouraging people to shop online.
The Growth of Souq.com
Mouchawar remembered that Souq struggled to create an effective catalog for products. Later, he knew that some customers were complaining about the shopping platform, so he added some improvements to the site.
By 2016, Ronaldo saw huge success for Souq after raising $425 million in funding from several investors.
Additionally, the e-commerce platform was slowly gaining traction among Arab customers who were looking for a modernized shopping environment. That's when Mouchawar thought of collaborating with a more popular platform.
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Amazon's Acquisition of Souq
The quick takeover of Souq has transformed MENA into one of the fast-selling hotspots in the digital e-commerce space.
Ronaldo said that the acquisition would bring more innovations to the business, which would benefit more Arabic-speaking people across the globe.
Upon launching Amazon in the Middle East and North Africa, Mouchawar felt that this "key moment" was something to be proud of.
Amazon saw a 38% increase in sales in 2021. The company also recorded a $21.3 billion net income in the same year.
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