It was hailed as the first tech unicorn from the United Arab Emirates in its debut on the New York Stock Exchange and touted as the “Clubhouse of the Middle East.”
But these days, Yalla Group Ltd., a voice-chat startup based out of Dubai, might be earning a less flattering label: stock-market bust.
After a fivefold surge in the months following its initial public offering last year, Yalla — a Chinese-backed social network based in the United Arab Emirates that means “Let’s Go” in Arabic — has given up all its gains and then some. Since peaking at over $40 in February, Yalla has lost more than 80% of its market value. Its American depositary receipts, which debuted at $7.50, are now consistently below $7 and hit an all-time low of $6.26 this past week.
This is quite a comedown for a company once feted by Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, drew comparisons to the buzzy Silicon Valley startup Clubhouse and even garnered a small stake from billionaire Steve Cohen’s hedge fund. But as the once red-hot, live-audio chatroom space cools, the company’s spectacular growth has come under scrutiny.
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