Ibtikar Fund, a disruptive fund that invests in innovative Palestinian companies at their earliest stages, announced on Tuesday its newest investment in Gamiphy, a do-it-yourself platform that allows users to implement gamification strategies to better engage their visitors and increase sales.

With Gamiphy, any business with an online presence can easily create mobile and online games and gamified loyalty programs that will differentiate their brand on social media channels, encourage their users to engage (e.g. sharing, commenting) and buy, and help them retain their customers through rewards.

This is especially important at a time when advertising is increasing on social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) and sales are increasingly conducted online (e-commerce). Users are bombarded with content and advertising, and brands are finding it more difficult to stand out.

Before Gamiphy, gamification was largely inaccessible to SMEs including e-commerce sites, as it required big budgets to have ad agencies design and develop games and programs. With Gamiphy, it's easy to choose a game from their library, customize it to their brand, and launch on social media channels—making gamification accessible to any size business, including SMEs and startups.

"We've taken the science of gamification, the power of growth hacking and re-imagined marketing with Gamiphy," said Aws Al Nabulsi, Founder and CEO of Gamiphy, "our mission is to provide assistance to small and medium businesses that do not have access to big capital, and help them grow, all through gamification," continued Al Nabulsi.

Additionally, Gamiphy provides important insights to its clients—giving them powerful information on user behavior and their engagement on their platforms through their games, instantly letting their clients know whether their advertising money is being well-spent.

"Ibtikar provided the seed funding for Aws and his team to develop the Gamiphy platform. Their initial traction looks very promising, and the marketing technology space is prime for growth, so we are excited to continue our partnership with Gamiphy through this investment," said Habib Hazzan, Managing General Partner of Ibtikar Fund.

Ibtikar's investment will help Gamiphy expand their reach and use of the platform throughout the Arab world and globally.