• UAE-based Majarra, An Arabic digital content provider, has acquired the UAE-based NLP technology provider, Lableb, for an undisclosed amount. 
• Founded in 2004 by Abdulsalam Haykal, Majarra is a mediatech company that provides Arabic content through the Majarra App. With a vast library of over 50,000 articles, videos, and audio content. Meanwhile, Lableb, founded in 2017 by Kinda Altarbouch, offers Arabic AI services and Natural Language Processing (NLP).
• The acquisition aims to solidify Majarra's position at the forefront of Arabic digital innovation and marks its entry into the rapidly expanding AI sector.

Press release:

Majarra, the MENA region's leading digital content provider, has announced a landmark acquisition of Lableb, a trailblazing startup in Arabic AI and Natural Language Processing (NLP). This strategic move solidifies Majarra's position at the forefront of Arabic digital innovation and marks its entry into the rapidly expanding AI sector.

Empowering Arabic in the Digital Age

The two companies have shared founders and shareholders. This transaction makes Majarra the majority owner of Lableb, enabling a more complete integration of the two entities. It also aligns with Majarra's vision to enhance the utility of Arabic online through reliable content, advanced user experiences, and Arabic language technologies.

Cutting-Edge AI Solutions for Arabic Language Challenges

Lableb's state-of-the-art AI and NLP technologies power content discovery and personalization software products, including enterprise search and recommendation engines. Their solutions have been embraced by a diverse clientele, including online stores, government platforms, news websites, and enterprise software providers, where nuanced and accurate Arabic language processing is crucial for success. Over the years, Lableb has collaborated closely with Microsoft and AWS, in addition to leading e-commerce platforms, including Zid, Salla, and Shopify and CMS software providers like NVSSoft.

A Partnership Built on Innovation

As one of Lableb's earliest clients, Majarra has firsthand experience with the transformative power of Lableb's Arabic technologies. Manhom.com, powered by Lableb's groundbreaking Named Entity Recognition (NER) technologies, has become the region's premier Arabic source for professional information. Lableb's innovations have also driven search and content discovery across all Majarra platforms, including the flagship Majarra app.

Preserving Independence, Fostering Growth

Under Majarra's ownership, Lableb will maintain its operational independence, focusing on addressing the unique challenges machines face with Arabic language processing. The language's rich morphology, diverse dialects, complex syntactic structure, and context-dependent meanings have long posed significant hurdles for machine understanding and processing. Lableb's position as one of the few players successfully tackling these challenges underscores the strategic importance of this acquisition.

Content, Agents, and LLMs

Majarra's executive chairman Abdulsalam Haykal and CEO Ammar Haykal stated, "Majarra and Lableb share a common foundation and vision. Kinda's leadership and the team's unwavering commitment to the transformative power of Arabic AI/NLP for regional businesses have consistently delivered exceptional product quality. Through Lableb, we see immense potential in bringing real-life applications to Large Language Models (LLMs), some of which have emerged from our region."

Lableb’s co-founder Kinda Altarbouch added, "Joining Majarra marks an exciting new chapter for Lableb. Our shared vision of advancing Arabic AI and NLP will drive innovation and deliver significant value to online businesses and their customers. Lableb's tools are robust, ready to deploy, and capable of handling millions of queries weekly."

Marcus Brauchli, Managing Director of North Base Media, commented, "This acquisition is timely and demonstrates Majarra's agility in responding to market evolution. By incorporating AI products into its portfolio, Majarra adds a crucial technology dimension to its offerings. While LLMs are transformative, their true potential can only be realised through AI agents like those Lableb provides."