Platformance, an emerging player in the digital advertising and marketing technology space, adds Marwan Ghanem and Rizvi Riaz to its leadership team as the start-up continues to grow its footprint in MENA. 

Dubai, UAE, 11 October 2023 – Platformance announces two new appointments to its leadership team to further support agencies and Small and Midsize Business (SMB) advertisers as the ad-tech start-up continues to grow its footprint in MENA.

The company’s recent strategic hires are primed to further cement its position as a credible home grown ad-tech player in the region that delivers accountable growth for businesses and agencies. Both newly appointed leaders bring a wealth of experience and expertise to their respective roles.

Marwan Ghanem joins as Head of Agency and Ecosystem. His role is to further develop strategic partnerships with agency networks as well as iindependent agencies. He is responsible for building commercial partnerships and driving adoption of new suite of ad products. Marwan brings with him nearly two decades of sales and leadership experience across agencies, ad-tech and publishers, including Choueiri Group. 

“I am excited to join this dynamic startup and build upon the success the team has  already achieved in a short period of time,” says Ghanem.

Rizvi Riaz joins as Head of SMB. His role is to accelerate Platformance’s footprint within the fast-growing SMB ecosystem. With a proven track record of partnering with local and regional businesses at Gulf News, Boopin & TBD Media Group, Riaz is well-positioned to empower SMBs to achieve their full potential by leveraging Platformance’s’ suite of lower-funnel solutions. 

Stepping into this role, Riaz said, “It’s about embarking on a journey of solving growth-related pain points of direct advertisers. I believe our differentiated offering will certainly push the needle.”

Waseem Afzal, Founder and CEO said of the new additions, “I am excited to have Marwan Ghanem & Rizvi Riaz on our leadership team. Their expertise, values and passion align perfectly with our ambition to empower app-first and commerce businesses across the region”.

The new leadership hires come on the heels of its expansion across MENA with in-market teams in Dubai, Riyadh and Cairo to support growing demand of its pay-per-outcome solutions, including but not limited to programmatic media, paid social, search, retail media, Connected TV & creator marketing. 

Afzal added, “Platformance is firmly committed to investing in the local ad-tech ecosystem, nurturing talent, and fostering innovation. The company’s expansion and strategic leadership appointments reflect its commitment to contributing to the development of digital advertising in the MENA region”.