#104 This week In MENA's Startup Scene!
Dive into the latest Startup News, Trends & Opportunities shaping the MENA region
Welcome back to MENA Startup Digest!
We are bringing you the latest round-up of startup news, updates, and opportunities in the MENA region.
Fundraising Roulette
Arib (KSA/FinTech) raised $23.5M led by Merak Capital to scale its digital lending marketplace
eVoost AI (UAE/PropTech) secured $2M led by First Drop VC to enhance its AI platform and expand demand-driven real estate solutions across the UAE
RSA XB (UAE/LogisticsTech) raised $1.5M Seed led by 21 Ventures to simplify SME cross-border shipping and expand across key trade corridors
Peekabox (UAE/FoodTech) closed $1.5M Seed to scale its surplus food marketplace and expand discounted food access across KSA and the wider GCC
RemotePass (UAE/HRTech) closed $17.4M Series B led by EBRD Venture Capital to expand into Europe and the US
01Gov (UAE/GovTech) secured AED 1.5M credit guarantee from MBRIF to advance its agentic AI platform and strengthen government innovation tools
ARRW (Egypt/Mobility) secured $4M from Tasheed Egypt to grow its driver network and scale its licensed local ride-hailing platform across Egypt
GymNation (UAE) secured $100M in private credit from HPS Investment Partners to expand across the GCC
Crucifer Investments (UAE) invested in Owners ID’s $260K Pre-Seed to back its QR-based lost item recovery platform
More rounds → here
Main Headlines
GrowthLabs (Egypt) acquired Startup Gate in a deal nearing EGP 35M to build a unified startup infrastructure and scale entrepreneurship support across MENA
MGX (UAE) joined Isomorphic Labs’ $2.1B Series B to back AI-first drug discovery, and expand Abu Dhabi’s exposure to healthcare AI
Core42 (UAE) secured $550M in structured trade finance from HSBC to scale AI cloud and compute infrastructure across the US and Europe
Investcorp acquired a $200M+ US industrial portfolio to deepen its exposure to logistics real estate and distribution hubs
Lunate anchored the $70M Manara Ventures Fund to back Jordanian growth-stage startups, provide $750K to $3M tickets
STV secured investment from Saudi Awwal Bank for its Emerging Tech & AI Fund to back AI-native startups,
Dubai announced a second AED 1.5B economic package to support businesses affected by the regional conflict
Qatar Investment Authority backed a $349M Spain-focused fund with COFIDES to support high-growth SMEs
More updates → here
Ecosystem Updates
Hub71 and Khalifa Fund launched the first MZN Hub71 cohort to support 17 Emirati founders from Al Ain
Qatar University and HyperThink Systems honored innovation leaders at the QEA 2026 Awards
ZINC Jordan and Tamatem Games crowned winners of the Prompt & Play Hackathon
Ibtikar Fund and Replit crowned winners of Palestine’s first Build Week Demo Day
The FORGE (Morocco) unveiled its Operations Tech and Automation cohort to support AI-native startups
NQUBATOR (UAE) showcased its latest PropTech startups at Demo Day
Bahrain launched the Cyber Ready Bahrain initiative to train MSMEs and protect startups from growing digital threats
GameForward Accelerator awarded grants and PlayStation partnerships to Emirati gaming studios
SMEDA (Syria) launched its first national startup competition to map Syria’s entrepreneurial ecosystem
Syrian Youth and Entrepreneurs Council launched to support young founders and connect startups with private sector institutions
More updates → here
Startups Highlights
Thndr (Egypt) topped the Financial Times Africa’s Fastest-Growing Companies 2026 list
Noon (UAE) announced plans to launch in Syria to expand its regional marketplace
Fawry (Egypt) lined up $2.4M for potential acquisitions to expand its technology stack
Mal (UAE) received in-principle approval from the Central Bank of the UAE to launch its AI-native Islamic digital bank
Klivvr (Egypt) launched K.ai to bring AI-powered financial assistance to 700,000 users
WSSL and Dilmune Cloud (Bahrain) won the 25th StartUp Bahrain Pitch to showcase laundry POS and cloud management solutions
Mkany (Egypt) won the Rally Egypt semi-finals to advance its AI-powered student housing platform
More highlights → here
Techy Bytes
UAE Government deployed its first AI agents to automate procurement, tax auditing, customer service, and technical support
Dubai Municipality partnered with Keeta Drone to roll out on-demand drone deliveries across public parks and beaches
Dubai launched the Museum of Digital Art in DIFC to fuse technology and culture
G42 (UAE) finalized a landmark deal to build an 8-exaflop AI supercomputer in India
Dubai Holding partnered with Microsoft to deploy enterprise AI across its portfolio
Djezzy (Algeria) launched AventureCloudz with Algeria Venture and Taubyte to support local AI development
Oman rolled out its first AI-powered autonomous asphalt paving system to improve road quality
NYU Abu Dhabi launched ChatSign to provide real-time sign language accessibility
MOZN (KSA) launched its next-generation Real-Time Transaction Screening platform to help financial institutions detect financial crime
Morocco’s DGSN unveiled AI-powered patrol vehicles and locally built drones to modernize public safety
More tech → here
That’s a wrap for this week!
We hope this week’s digest of the latest funding, insights, and ecosystem news helps you stay ahead in the fast-paced MENA region.
Stay tuned for more insights next week
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