#32 This Week In MENA's Startup Scene🚀
Dive into the latest Startup News, Trends & Opportunities shaping the MENA region
Hello and welcome back to your weekly dose of what’s happening in the MENA startup world
As we gear up for another week, the MENA startup ecosystem is buzzing with activity, so let’s get started!
Topics 3l Mashi This Week:
Fundraising Roulette
In THe News
Ecosystem Updates
Startups Highlights
Programs & Opportunities
Cool Events
Techy Bytes
Fundraising Roulette
FlapKap (UAE/Fintech) raised $34M Pre-Series A
YouMatch (UAE/Dating App) secured $1.5M Seed funding
Rewardable (UAE/Web3) secured an undisclosed seed round
Cubin (UAE/Automation) raised an undisclosed round
Regards (KSA/Experiences Gifting) raised $1.5M
UmrahCash (KSA/Fintech) secured $500,000
Qomel Factory (KSA/Pharmaceutical) secured SAR 50.7M
IO Kitchens (Oman/Saas) raised $2.8M Seed Round
Paymob (Egypt/Fintech) raised $22M in Series B Extension
KWIKS (Morocco/HR) raised MAD 8M
In The News…
Sultan Ventures acquired Acasia
Entlaq acquired a stake in Brotinni (Egypt/FoodTech)
Arcapita acquired majority stake in NeoPay
Fawry (Egypt/Fintech) acquired majority stake in Svreico
First revenue-based Islamic financing fund for SMEs launched in Egypt
Launch Africa Ventures launched Mezzanine Impact Fund
Dubai launched its new AI Security Policy
Ecosystem Updates
DMCC launched AI Centre
Hub71 welcomed 21 startups in cohort 15
Dubai AI & Web3 Festival attracted 6,800 visitors from over 100 countries
10 Startups graduated from Flat6Labs
AstroLabs concluded the second cohort of banker technologist program
QFC Digital Assets Lab in Qatar welcomed twenty-four participant
Exis MENA partnered with Google to launch NAQLA program
Startup Highlights
Sulmi (UAE/Mobility) launched first UAE-made e-motorcycle in Sharjah
Fasset (UAE/Fintech) launched IOWN Blockchain
AHOY and Hyperfusion unveiled project Jeriko
MenaMoney (Bahrain/FIntech) partnered with UAE and Gulf Insurance Federations
Contact (Egypt/Fintech) launched Contact Credit
Oyster (Lebanese-Owned) is now valued at over $1.2 billion
Alraedah (KSA) launched TRAY Cloud POS in Saudi market
Ejari (KSA/Proptech) won KPMG Global Tech Innovator competition
Orient (UAE/Fintech) launched platform to trade gold seamlessly
Open For Application
Agrytech Accelerator by Berytech | Lebanon
Become a Future 100 | UAE
Athar ClimateTech Accelerator | Egypt
Ebda3 Ma7ali Incubation Program | Egypt
Tech Cofounder Program by FasterCapital | Egypt
Women Entrepreneurs Without Limits | Tunisia
DarE Incubator | Mena
Must Attend Events This Week
Conteq Expo 24 - 16/09 | Doha
Private Capital in Mature vs. Emerging Markets - 17/09 | Magnitt, Virtual
Marketing & Communications Workshop - 17/09 | In5, Dubai
C3 Impact Accelerators 2024 Online Info Session - 18/09 | Virtual
The Middle East Banking Innovation Summit - 18/09 | Dubai
Sharjah Investment Forum 2024 - 18/09 | Sharjah
VC Spotlight: The Crucial Role of Ecosystem in Venture Capital - 18/09 | HUB71, Abu Dhabi
Digital Transformation Summit Qatar - 19/09 | Doha
StartUp Weekend Bahrain - 19/09 | Manama
Banking and Fintech Summit - 21/09 | Cairo
Techy Bytes
UAE ministry introduced AI chatbot to enhance services
SDAIA to launch AI Center of Excellence and an index to evaluate Arabic AI models
Aramco introduced an AI supercomputer and an advanced AI platform called Norous
OpenAI launched o1-mini, looking to launch Strawberry AI Model and raise a new round on a $150B valuation
Google and Apple to pay $2.7B and $15B fines respectively to EU
A Billionaire completed the first private commercial spacewalk in history
That’s a wrap!
Thanks for joining us, and stay tuned!