Founders' Letter, 2022

by Pamela Osman

Mon, Dec 13, 2021

We are not diviners, nor fortune tellers; but for sure we have foreseen the future of multimedia in our region since our first day at E-Poets Society. Even though we were on a mission to digitalize and integrate Arabic reading content into people's daily lives by offering an immersive reading experience, digitalizing the 10 million+ paperbacks in the global Arabic library, and offering our Arab audience the biggest Arabic e-library in the shortest time possible, we are now determined to go even bigger. Hence, in the midst of operations, and while receiving huge demand from publishers and authors to join our society, we dared to dream, with the full support of our partners and investors at Fil Rouge Capital, and ESIF, as we are rebranding to "Menassati", a full digital entertainment platform, where Arab audience can watch, listen, read, and play at the lowest subscription plan, having unlimited access to the largest one-source of Arabic multimedia content. In a sector where monopolies clearly dominate the market, it needs bold founders to even dare to break through. However, in the MENA region where digital entertainment still lack serious competition, "Menassati" announces its big entry to the world of multimedia, expanding its platform to provide, in addition to the e-reading service, video and audio streaming services, live streaming and gaming. Today, "Menassati" steps in to serve a massive Arab consumer market that is hungry for original Arabic content that best reflects its society and culture. If the Covid-19 lockdowns of the past two years proved anything beside the importance of wearing masks and social distancing, it is just how much people stuck at home value their multimedia streaming services when most other forms of entertainment like theaters, cinemas, concerts, venues and museums are closed. In the worst of times for almost 90% of the sectors, it was the best of times for streaming, e-reading and gaming, seeing more growth than at any other time in their history. We committed ourselves to key considerations such as reviewing and testing new content distribution channels to keep pace with the Arab consumer habits, building scale to offset the ongoing rise in content costs, reducing reliance on purely advertising-funded media by building a direct-to-consumer platform that can either be subscription based or a mix between advertised freemium plan and subscription content, deploying acquisitions and strategic partnerships to build the required skills in the fastest growing and emerging revenue streams, and working closely with and supporting local governments to design relevant digital regulations and define the role of industry in their execution. Additionally, we are committed to a responsible attitude towards the environment, campaigning for a deforestation-free future to help regulate the climate, filter water through trees’ root system, capture dust particles and pollutants from air, and stabilize soils against erosion. As for our streaming services, we partnered with providers that are shifting towards more renewable sources of energy, calculating their emissions following GHG protocol guidelines, and delivering reports that meet sustainability goals. In our startup, we always invest in products and services that restore and regenerate natural ecosystems, and only focus on projects that advance sustainable livelihoods, biodiversity, climate resilience, and environmental justice. We are also proud to announce that "Menassati"’s stores, products, office practices, workflow, meetings, business cards, contracts, invoices, payment releases, advertisements, promotions, sales tools, and others, are 100% digital, paperless, and eco-friendly. We thank our partners, investors, advocates, content creators, users, friends, and team for making this journey and commitment a successful giveback to the planet. Stay connected to witness the next big entry into the world of digital entertainment. Ladies and gentlemen… Let the show begin!