#69 This week In MENA's Startup Scene!
Dive into the latest Startup News, Trends & Opportunities shaping the MENA region
Eid Mubarak and a warm welcome back, MENA founders!
We've got another packed digest for you, covering all the key funding deals, ecosystem news, and tech headlines from across MENA this week
Here’s what you need to know:
Fundraising Roulette
EightClouds (UAE/Consumer Brands) raised a $20M round from a group of Gulf investors to enhance its brand portfolio, expand its geographical footprint, and invest in emerging consumer trends
Best Kept Shared (UAE/Circular Fashion) secured an investment from Move the Needle to scale its technology and expand brand partnerships across the region
eVoost (UAE/Proptech) raised an undisclosed seed round led by Qora71 to accelerate its international expansion, and further develop its AI platform that automates real estate buyer's journey
ShipBee (Qatar/Logistics) secured a $235K pre-seed round led by GrowthX to scale its operations, enhance its technology, and expand its reach across MENA
Thunder Code (Tunisia/AI) raised $9M seed round led by Silicon Badia to develop its AI-powered, no-code software testing platform and support its global expansion
Kumulus Water (Tunisia/Climatetech) closed a $3.5M seed round to scale its production of atmospheric water generators and drive expansion into France, Spain, and Saudi Arabia
Main Headlines
Arab Fund invested in Shorooq Partners' Nahda Fund II to enhance access to crucial financing for tech SMEs across MENA with non-dilutive venture debt
Saudi-based Khwarizmi Ventures is raising its second fund with a target of $120M to back early-stage startups across MENA with focus on SaaS, fintech, and e-commerce
NOMW Capital acquired a majority stake in Saudi delivery app MRSOOL ahead of its planned listing on the Saudi Exchange's main market
Khalifa Fund signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Inovartic Investment to support the gaming industry in UAE by providing financing to gaming startups
UAE approved a new federal law on climate action to regulate carbon credits and set a clear roadmap to achieve its Net Zero by 2050 goals
Abdul Latif Jameel signed a deal worth nearly $1B with Joby Aviation to launch an all-electric air taxi service in Saudi Arabia as early as 2026
Central Bank of Oman released a new regulatory framework for digital banks to accelerate financial innovation by providing a clear and secure path for new digital banking models to launch
Algeria to launch the National Venture Studio Program to create 1,000 new Algerian startups over the next five years in key sectors like fintech, healthtech, and renewable energy
MSMEDA launched a new Venture Capital Reporting Standard to enhance transparency and standardize reporting practices within Egypt’s VC ecosystem
India-based Stride Ventures announced its expansion into GCC and plans to commit over $250M to support startups in fintech, agritech, and D2C brands
Morocco updated its National Strategy for Sustainable Development through an accelerated push into renewable energy, a circular economy, and sustainable practices
Ecosystem Updates
Syria launched a new bank for company formation to simplify and accelerate the process of establishing companies, obtaining commercial licenses, and encouraging new business investment
ScaleUp Syria 2025 kicked off its Damascus bootcamp with 58 startups to bolster the national startup ecosystem
Second edition of the Sunbulah accelerator launched in Saudi Arabia to support startups in agritech and food sectors
Sharjah Entrepreneurship Centre hosted the Deal Dock to connect startups with capital and partnered with the National Centre for Research to boost local agritech innovation and food security
Morocco’s Technopark partnered with Plug and Play to launch a new global accelerator in Casablanca to help Moroccan startups scale internationally
Bahrain’s Ministry of Youth signed a deal with Hope Ventures to launch and operate the new Youth Innovation Centre in Manama to empower young entrepreneurs
Abu Dhabi's Authority of Social Contribution launched its new Athar+ program to empower social enterprises and non-profits with tailored workshops and mentorship
Orange Corners continued to foster youth entrepreneurship across North Africa with its Egypt program graduating 100 startups, while Morocco’s program celebrated the graduation of its third cohort in the Beni Mellal-Khenifra region
Algeria was awarded the Entrepreneurial Policy Champion award at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress
UM6P, UNDP, and Casablanca-Settat Regional Council launched a new Innovation Lab to tackle local development challenges and reinvent public services in the region
Startups Highlights
Lumofy (EdTech) won both the Rising Star and Kiyadat awards at the 4th edition of Deloitte’s Technology Fast 50 program for the Middle East
XBTO (UAE) received its full Category 3A license from Abu Dhabi’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority which allows it to operate as a broker-dealer for both traditional and digital assets
intella (KSA) secured second place in Tawuniya’s InsurAI Challenge in Saudi Arabia
Egypt’s Financial Regulatory Authority granted licenses to 16 new fintech companies to operate in the non-banking financial sector
Techy Bytes
UAE launched a first-of-its-kind training program for public sector Chief AI Officers to accelerate AI adoption across all government agencies
MBZUAI released Nile-Chat, a new large language model (LLM) specifically trained on the Egyptian Arabic dialect to develop more culturally and linguistically nuanced AI
Kuwait Investment Authority joined a global AI Infrastructure Partnership to invest in large-scale projects like data centers and advanced computing capacity
Iraq's Ministry of Health launched the Meyzad QR code platform to combat counterfeit goods and allowing consumers to scan products like medicine to instantly verify their authenticity and origin
Orange Jordan supported the Lab of Tomorrow initiative, a program empowering startups that develop innovative digital solutions to enhance social inclusion for persons with disabilities
Google released MediaPipe Studio, a new app that lets developers download and run AI models locally, enabling faster, private, and offline-capable on-device applications
Twitch unveiled full Arabic language support across its platform, along with improved monetization and content discovery tools to better serve its growing creator base in MENA
Elon Musk's X launched its new messaging service, XChat, featuring end-to-end encryption and audio/video calls to directly compete with Meta
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