What ME DIGITAL GROUP does

ME Digital Group is a Dubai-headquartered private digital media holding company that owns and operates a portfolio of online publishing, e-commerce, and community brands targeting expatriate and value-seeking consumers across the Middle East. The group's flagship asset is ExpatWoman.com, an online community platform launched in 2002 that provides local guides, classifieds, job listings, event listings, and forums, and has expanded from Dubai into the wider UAE, GCC, Middle East, Central Europe, and Asia. Vertical sub-brands EWmums (parenting, relaunched 2017), EWfood (food and recipes, launched 2012 and upgraded 2017), and ewmoda.com (fashion and lifestyle, launched 2016) extend the ExpatWoman audience into adjacent lifestyle categories and are supported by physical events such as EWmums' weekly mum meet-ups in the UAE.

The group expanded into e-commerce through its January 2015 acquisition of Cobone.com, the Middle East's largest deals website, which sells discount vouchers for dining, activities, shopping, and experiences in the UAE and Saudi Arabia and has cumulatively sold over 4 million vouchers delivering more than $300 million in user savings. Revenue is generated primarily through transaction commissions on Cobone voucher sales and through digital advertising placements across the group's web properties, which collectively reach over 1.5 million unique visitors and 10 million page views per month. The company maintains offices in the UAE and KSA, is led by Group CEO Jane Drury with COO James Drury and CFO Amanda Powell, and operates with 101-250 employees.

Name

ME DIGITAL GROUP

Legal name

ME Digital Group

Website

https://medigitalgroup.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

ME Digital Group is a Dubai-based private digital media holding company operating ExpatWoman.com, Cobone.com, and lifestyle verticals (EWmums, EWfood, ewmoda) that serve expatriate and value-seeking consumers across the Middle East through content, community, and discount deals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Media and E-commerce

NAICS

Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers (516210), Advertising Agencies (541810)

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)

akta.pro primary industry

Shopping/Deal & Affiliate Content Aggregators (MPACAKAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Digital Goods, Subscriptions & Gift Card Marketplaces (BPAMAGAG)

Keywords

• Digital media publishing
• E-commerce deals platform
• Expat community website
• Online advertising network
• Content marketing portals

Headquarters

HQ city

Dubai

HQ country

United Arab Emirates

HQ region

Middle East

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. E-commerce Deals Commission: Cobone.com operates as the Middle East's leading deals website, generating revenue through transaction-based deals on dining, activities, shopping, and experiences. The company earns commissions on voucher sales.
2. Digital Advertising: ME Digital Group helps brands and companies reach their marketing goals effectively through its portfolio of websites reaching over 1.5 million unique visitors monthly. Revenue is generated through advertising placements across ExpatWoman.com, EWmums, EWfood, and ewmoda.com verticals.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

ME Digital Group owns and operates a portfolio of digital media and e-commerce web properties targeting expatriate and value-seeking consumer audiences in the Middle East. Its core offerings include Cobone.com, the region's leading deals and voucher platform, and ExpatWoman.com, a long-running expatriate community website with vertical content extensions covering parenting (EWmums), food (EWfood), and fashion/lifestyle (ewmoda.com). The company monetizes through voucher transaction commissions and digital advertising sales to brands seeking reach to over 1.5 million monthly unique visitors.

Product overview

ME Digital Group operates a platform-plus-brands architecture, owning and operating an established portfolio of web properties across the Middle East. The core flagship brand is ExpatWoman.com (launched 2002), a global expat community site that serves as the parent brand for vertical sub-brands including EWmums (mum/parenting content), EWfood (food/recipes), and ewmoda.com (fashion/lifestyle). The company also acquired Cobone.com (January 2015), the Middle East's leading deals/e-commerce website. Together these properties reach over 1.5 million unique visitors per month and 10 million plus page views.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Cobone.com: Middle East's biggest deals website featuring hundreds of offers on dining, activities, and products in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Over 4 million vouchers sold, saving users over $300 million.
• ExpatWoman.com
• EWmums
• EWfood
• ewmoda.com

Products and services

• Cobone.com The Middle East's biggest deals website offering discounted vouchers on dining, activities, entertainment, shopping, beauty, and travel experiences across the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Users purchase vouchers directly through the platform; merchants provide the deals.
• ExpatWoman.com A global expatriate community website providing local knowledge, guides, event listings, job adverts, classifieds, and community forums for expats living in the Middle East and beyond. Features an extensive program of online-to-offline events.
• EWmums A brand extension of ExpatWoman.com focusing on mothers and expectant mothers, providing articles, expert advice, forums, and guides on pregnancy, birth, babies, toddlers, and children. Also runs weekly meet-ups and larger mum-themed events in the UAE.
• EWfood An extended brand of ExpatWoman.com featuring local restaurant news and happenings, thousands of curated recipes and articles on cookery, baking, and healthy eating, plus reviews, a food-focused forum, and competitions.
• ewmoda.com The fashion and lifestyle vertical of ExpatWoman.com featuring news, updates, and features from the fashion, beauty, home interiors, travel, bridal, and lifestyle realms. Positions itself as a vehicle for advertisers to reach ideal audiences in the Middle East.

Quantifiable outcome

• 4+ million vouchers sold through Cobone.com
• +3 more outcomes

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Arabian Business: Arabian Business is an established English-language digital media publisher serving business professionals and expats in the Middle East. Comparable ME digital publishing model, advertising-led monetization, and expat/diaspora audience.
• Noon: Noon is one of the Middle East's leading e-commerce platforms. While broader in scope than Cobone, both compete for ME consumer wallet share and digital advertising dollars in the region.
• Bayut: Bayut is the Middle East's largest property classifieds platform. While different in vertical, both Bayut and ExpatWoman monetize through classified listings and advertising to ME audiences, making the business model and audience overlap relevant.
• Groupon: Groupon is the global pioneer of the deals/voucher marketplace model that Cobone operates within. Comparable transaction-fee monetization and merchant-based voucher concept, though Groupon is a global incumbent versus Cobone's ME focus.

Emerging players

• Lovemores: Lovemores is a regional lifestyle and community platform for women in the Middle East. Comparable target demographic and content/community-driven model to ExpatWoman's lifestyle and mums verticals.
• Talabat: Talabat is the largest food delivery platform in the Middle East, intersecting with ME Digital Group's EWfood vertical and Cobone's dining deals category. Comparable ME food/lifestyle audience and merchant ecosystem.
• Mumzworld: Mumzworld is the largest mother, baby, and child e-commerce platform in the Middle East, serving the same demographic as ME Digital Group's EWmums vertical. Comparable ME-focused, mum-targeted audience with commerce monetization.

Direct peers

• InterNations: InterNations is the world's largest expat community network, offering guides, forums, and offline events for expatriates globally. Directly comparable to ExpatWoman.com in audience, content pillars, and online-to-offline community model.
• Expatica: Expatica is a leading digital publisher providing guides, news, and information for expatriates in Europe and beyond. Highly comparable to ExpatWoman.com in content pillars (local guides, jobs, classifieds, community) and audience.
• The Entertainer: The Entertainer is the Middle East's largest direct competitor to Cobone.com, offering two-for-one and discount vouchers across dining, attractions, and retail in the UAE and wider GCC. Closely comparable product, target customer, and merchant-based business model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/medigitalgroup
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/medigitalgroup

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A2 records

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ME DIGITAL GROUP