UAE-based technology development group Astra Tech (Astra) has acquired VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) solution Botim. The company plans to relaunch it into an ‘ultra app’, it was announced on Thursday. Before its acquisition, Botim was headquartered in California, U.S.
Abu Dhabi-based G42 backed Astra Tech with $500 for the acquisition of Botim. As a goal of the acquisition, Botim will be transformed into a “multifaceted conversational commerce app” – facilitating various services including fintech, remittances, p2p money transfer, bill payments, government services, pharmacy, retail, food delivery, grocery, and more.
At present, Botim is the region’s largest and most popular communications platform with 90 million registered users and 25 million active ones, who open the app more than 15 times a day. Additional plans for its development are expected to be announced in Q1 of 2023.
“Astra will continue its pursuit of strategic acquisitions for BOTIM while synergistically working with its architecture, research, development, and tech teams to fast-track design and development to go to market,” the group said.
Abdallah Abu Sheikh, founder of Astra Tech, is spearheading the formation of Botim’s relaunch. It will offer several services and an intuitive interface. The relaunch aims to combat “customer fatigue” that stems from multiple platforms trying to force “unnatural user behaviour through scattered digital offerings”.
On these lines, Abu Sheikh in a press statement said,
“The need for an all-encompassing app accessible to all customers that can re-steer economics in the right direction while giving customers, merchants, and investors a fair deal is paramount. Botim will be the first of its kind in the region to simplify interactions of hundreds of millions of users, allowing them to engage and transact seamlessly.”
Botim’s popularity surged during the Covid-19 pandemic as it provided communication solutions such as video, audio, instant messaging, and group chats with up to 500 users. By leveraging it as the base of the ultra app, Astra Tech hopes to reach millions of users to become the “region’s most trusted consumer platform”.
