• Amethis, an investment fund focused on Africa and Mena has acquired a minority stake in UAE-based Tarjama. 

• Founded in 2008 by Jordanian entrepreneur Nour Al Hassan, Tarjama is a language technology and services provider in the Mena region. The startup has developed proprietary language technology products including an Arabic-focused machine translation engine as well as Cleverso, its translation management system.

• The investment will be used to develop Tarjama’s technology and expand to global markets. 

• Tarjama is a Wamda portfolio company

Press release:

Amethis, through its newly launched fund, Amethis MENA Fund II (AMF2), has completed its second transaction, acquiring a minority stake in Tarjama.

Founded in 2008 by Jordanian entrepreneur Nour Al Hassan, Tarjama is the leading language technology & services provider in the MENA region, meeting the language and localisation needs of a wide roster of corporates across the region’s largest markets. The company has developed proprietary language technology products including a best-in-class Arabic-focused machine translation engine as well as Cleverso, its high-performing translation management system. With a growing presence in the MENA region, Tarjama which is woman-led enjoys gender parity and is a dynamic employer of youth across the region.

Amethis’ investment in Tarjama will support the company in realising its AI technology roadmap and in executing an ambitious organic and inorganic growth strategy across the region’s main markets.  

Nour Al Hassan, Tarjama Founder & CEO, stated: “This investment by Amethis creates an exceptional opportunity for us to build up our technological capabilities and securely position Tarjama as the leader in language AI across the region. We’re eager for this next phase of growth where we’ll significantly develop our current product portfolio, create new customer-focused products, and expand our presence to global markets.”

Toufic Khoueiry who led the transaction for Amethis commented: “Our investment in Tarjama exemplifies our strategy of backing exceptional and growth-focused entrepreneurs operating successfully in fast-growing sectors. We are excited to support Nour Al Hassan and the Tarjama team as the company embarks on its next chapter.”

Laurent Demey, Amethis Founding Partner, added: “By investing in Tarjama, Amethis is proud to be backing not only a market leader in the attractive Mena localisation market but also a high-growth woman-led SME that has already achieved gender parity. “

Dechert LLP acted as legal advisor to Nour Al Hassan & Tarjama while Hourani & Partners acted as legal advisor to Amethis. PwC and Slator were also retained by Amethis for financial, tax, and commercial due diligence.