#70 This week In MENA's Startup Scene!
Dive into the latest Startup News, Trends & Opportunities shaping the MENA region
Welcome back, MENA founders!
We're bringing you another comprehensive roundup, covering this week's most important funding deals, ecosystem shifts, and essential tech news from around MENA.
Let's get straight to it:
Fundraising Roulette
SANTECHTURE (UAE/HealthTech) secured a strategic growth investment from CorroHealth to accelerate the development of its AI-powered RCM platform and support market expansion across UAE and Saudi Arabia
Qanooni (UAE/Legaltech) raised $2M in a pre-seed round with participation from Parkpine Capital and other angel investors to enhance its AI-powered platform and accelerate its market entry into Saudi Arabia
Meeda (KSA/ConstructionTech) closed an undisclosed seed round led by a consortium of angel investors to enhance its construction material procurement platform and expand its user base across Saudi Arabia
Hoko Agency (UAE) acquired metaverse company Everdome to launch a new venture focused on integrating AI with immersive brand experiences
Middle East Venture Partners led a $2M seed round for XFOLIO to support the enhancement of its alternative asset investment platform and its expansion across the MENA region
Lottery.com acquired a 90% stake in Dubai-based Nook Holdings for $2.5M to leverage Nook’s digital asset management technology and expand its footprint in MENA
Doha Tech Angels participated in Nova's $3.6M pre-seed round to help the company enhance its custom AI agent platform and expand its team
AngelSpark (UAE) invested in Inovat to support its expansion into the Middle East and enhance its digital platform for travel tax refunds
DisrupTech Ventures (Egypt) backed Winich Farms in an undisclosed bridge round to support the expansion of its platform connecting smallholder farmers to credit and markets
Main Headlines
G42 (UAE) launched its European expansion with a new London headquarters, building on existing UK partnerships with entities like Oxford University and focusing on financial services and healthcare sectors
Stake (UAE) launched its first SAR 50M fund, allowing global investors to fractionally own prime rental properties in Saudi Arabia for as little as SAR 500
Super Capital expanding into Middle East with the launch of a new investment club in Dubai designed to connect LPs from GCC with top-tier global venture capital funds
Saudi Public Investment Fund in talks to make a major investment in OpenAI aligned with the Kingdom's strategy to become a global hub for AI
Tasheel Finance launched its new wage processing solution, Now Access, in Saudi Arabia to simplify payroll for businesses and ensure compliance with the Kingdom's Wage Protection System
Morocco selected by a German-led AI consortium to host a massive 500-megawatt compute data center
Ecosystem Updates
UAE Businesswomen Council reported that 25,000 Emirati businesswomen now manage successful investments worth over AED 60B
SYNC event in Berlin united Syrian tech professionals and entrepreneurs for a day of high-impact panels, networking, and startup pitches all focused on forging new paths for Syria's economic recovery
Orange Corners Egypt celebrated a new milestone, graduating its 100th startup from its program dedicated to fostering youth-led businesses and creating opportunities beyond Cairo
Morocco climbed into the top 10 African startup ecosystems, now ranking 8th on the continent
Bibliotheca Alexandrina launched its new Scientific Creativity Award, offering an EGP 100K prize to foster a new generation of Egyptian scientific innovators
Startups Highlights
UTHRA (Oman) secured key regulatory approval from Oman's Civil Aviation Authority and moved a step closer to launching its flying car services
LinkAI (Morocco) launched its predictive AI platform in Casablanca to analyze and forecast audience's emotional response to advertisements before they are aired
tiqmo (KSA) partnered with global remittance giant MoneyGram to expand its cross-border payment services, allowing its wallet users in Saudi Arabia to send money internationally
Fuze (UAE) partnered with Mamun (Oman) to tokenize Sharia-compliant trade finance assets
Jumia launched its first Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) service in Algeria through a partnership with financial services firm Diar Dzair (Algeria) to boost e-commerce adoption
Techy Bytes
Saudi Arabia's Roads General Authority deployed an 18-vehicle fleet equipped with AI to automate road inspection, detecting and reporting defects like cracks and potholes in real-time
Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Hajj and Umrah introduced digital Hajj completion certificates, now available to pilgrims through its Nusuk app as part of a wider push to digitize pilgrim services
GEMS Education launched its first Global Education AI Hub in Dubai, in collaboration with Microsoft, to advance AI research, development, and training for students and teachers
Dubai's DEWA launched an AI-powered legislation agent within its Rammas service to help users easily understand and navigate its regulatory and legal frameworks
Qatar broke ground on what is set to be world's largest 3D-printed school
NVIDIA's AI chips enabled a French startup to translate all publicly available written content on internet in just 18 days
Neuralink rival Synchron successfully implanted its brain-computer interface chip in a patient for first time, using a less invasive technique that inserts device through blood vessels
Swiss startup FinalSpark launched its Neuroplatform, a biocomputing platform powered by living human brain organoids that consumes a million times less energy than traditional silicon chips
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