#60 This week In MENA's Startup Scene!
Dive into the latest Startup News, Trends & Opportunities shaping the MENA region
Hello and welcome back, MENA founders! Hope you had a restful Eid break.
The potential impact of new US trade tariffs dominated discussions concerning the MENA region this week, raising questions about consequences for trade, jobs, and oil demand.
While the tariff news captured headlines, the underlying pace of activity remained high across MENA this past week. We also saw major policy shifts impacting business across the region, alongside significant funding rounds, key acquisitions, important ecosystem milestones, and major AI updates from global tech giants relevant to MENA.
Let's get into it!
Fundraising Roulette
InfiniLink (Egypt/) raised a $10M Seed round for Egyptian market expansion
Fuse (MENA/Payments) raised a $6.6M Seed round to simplify cross-border payments
Sellou (Bahrain) raised a $3M Seed round
NodeFoundry AI (UAE/AI) secured an undisclosed Seed round to develop its decentralized AI marketplace
Maseera (UAE/Investment) acquired ADVA (Egypt) to boost financial inclusion in North Africa
Alareeb Holding acquired an 80% stake in FIM
Main Headlines
UAE advanced its global trade reach, targeting $1T in non-oil trade via 26 economic partnerships
Saudi Arabia implemented simplified commercial laws (effective April 3)
Oman mandated IBAN use for domestic transactions starting July 2025
Morocco’s Tamwilcom mobilized $4.75B in 2024 financing, with focus on MSMEs
MENA region faces economic risks from proposed US tariffs
EU approved €4B funding to support Egypt’s economy
Ecosystem Updates
UAE ranked first globally in entrepreneurship for the fourth consecutive year (GEM 2025 Report)
Dubai Humanitarian won gold at MENA Stevie Awards for tech innovation with its Logistics Databank
REAF Program celebrated its third batch of Agri-Food startup graduates during its Final Demo Day
Five One Labs published its Annual Report detailing progress in Iraq
TANIT Connect Bootcamp empowered Tunisian civil society organizations with innovation and capacity building
Inc. Arabia invited nominations for its Gamechangers awards, spotlighting 25 MENA AI leaders (Deadline: Apr 15)
Seven Bahraini startups joined the second cohort of the Riyada Business Accelerator program
Startups Highlights
Madfu (UAE) obtained Sharia certification for its financial services
PayLater (Qatar) made history as the country’s first licensed BNPL startup
Yinvesti (Algeria) received Algeria’s first crowdfunding license
Meet the AI Startups leading the charge in the UAE's tech boom
Open For Application
ChangemakerXchange MENA Cohort | MENA
AI for Business Skilling Program | UAE
Make it in the Emirates Startup Pitch Competition | UAE
FHS Saudi Arabia Startup Den | KSA
Startup Syria Launchpad | Global / Syria
ALX Freelancer Academy | Morocco / Pan-African
Techy Bytes
Tunisie Telecom launcheD 5G services, becoming the first operator to roll out the technology commercially in North Africa
RTA, Uber & WeRide partnered to bring WeRide's autonomous vehicles onto the Uber platform In Dubai
Google has unveiled its next-generation AI reasoning model
Meta launched its new Llama 4 AI models
OpenAI secured a $40B Investment on a $300B valuation
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.
The Startup on the GO (ستارتب على الماشي)! Team