Jamie Lane

Jamie Lane is the co-founder of FWDstart, a Gulf/MENA-focused tech and venture publication aiming to be the region’s referential source for rigorous analysis and original reporting. Based in Abu Dhabi, Jamie’s coverage spans AI, fintech, and the evolving capital stack in MENA. He also hosts the VC React podcast. Before FWDstart, he led digital strategy at a pan-European B2B publishing house, overseeing editorial, subscriptions, and commercial operations.

Tech layoffs hit MENA, Careem pulls back

Mubadala leads $15M Series A for UAE embedded finance startup, Moroccan founders raise $5.5M pre-Seed from Balderton, Lean expands Pay By Bank across UAE, plus this week's MENA startup, VC, and tech news round-up

May 8, 2026

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5 min read

Moroccan founders raise $5.5m pre-seed from Heartcore and Balderton for AI platform compressing real estate development timelines

Founded by Mehdi Rais and Amine Chraibi, who met through Entrepreneur First's Bridge programme in Germany and became one of the fastest teams in EF's history to receive IC approval.

May 8, 2026

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1 min read

Bahrain's Siin raises $3m as live commerce format gains early traction across GCC

Founded in 2024, the platform enables users to buy and sell high-value goods through real-time live-streamed and gamified shopping experiences.

May 8, 2026

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1 min read

Saudi early-stage VC Khwarizmi Ventures closes Fund II first close at $70M

Fund II will invest $1 million to $5 million initial cheques into seed and Series A startups across the GCC, up from the $500,000 to $2 million range in Fund I.

May 8, 2026

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1 min read

Careem makes sweeping layoffs across multiple markets, closes Berlin office

The cuts span the UAE, Jordan, Egypt, Pakistan and Germany, with Careem yet to publicly acknowledge them.

May 7, 2026

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1 min read

Mubadala leads $15m Series A for UAE embedded finance lender CredibleX

Founded in 2023 by Anand Nagaraj, Ahmad Malik and Hassan Reda, CredibleX is an ADGM-regulated lender that provides SMEs with working capital through revenue-based financing, receivables financing and payable financing via an embedded, API-enabled platform.

May 6, 2026

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2 min read

Exclusive: Careem is winding down most of its consumer services in Saudi Arabia

Co-founder Abdulla Elyas confirms a 'strategic pause' as Careem strips most consumer services from its Saudi app, with the exception of Rides and Bikes.

May 3, 2026

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4 min read

MENA generates 60% of Delivery Hero's EBITDA, Talabat braces for Keeta in Egypt

Comfi raises $65M pre-Series A to scale B2B BNPL across MENA, Gulf sovereigns to own 38.5% of merged Paramount-WBD in close to $24B investment, plus this week's MENA startup, VC, and tech news round-up

May 1, 2026

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6 min read

At Delivery Hero, MENA is doing most of the heavy lifting

The Berlin-listed group's Gulf operations now generate roughly 60% of its EBITDA from 30% of its GMV. A regulator-mandated divestment of its largest shareholder will test what that engine is worth.

Apr 30, 2026

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4 min read

Inside Tamara's Books

What 40 pages of audited financial statements reveal about how Saudi's first homegrown fintech unicorn rebuilt its revenue model, underwrites a lending book it didn't have twelve months ago, funds it all at rates its nearest competitor can't match, and prepares for what comes next.

Apr 29, 2026

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20 min read

Saudi's BRKZ lands investment from SIDF's investment arm as supply chain platform eyes cloud manufacturing

The investment will accelerate BRKZ's evolution from a procurement digitisation platform into what the company calls cloud manufacturing.

Apr 29, 2026

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1 min read

Bahrain's Rain acquires Saudi financial media company Digital Ma'arefa in bid to reach one million Arabic-speaking crypto followers

Digital Ma'arefa is a Saudi-based financial media company behind The Finance Memo, Crypto Memo, AI Memo and a broader newsletter and podcast network reaching more than one million followers and over 100,000 newsletter subscribers.

Apr 28, 2026

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2 min read

Dubai's Comfi raises $65M pre-Series A in equity and debt to scale B2B buy now, pay later across MENA

The company offers a B2B buy now, pay later product that allows SME suppliers to provide up to 90-day payment terms to their business customers while receiving payment themselves within 24 hours.

Apr 27, 2026

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1 min read

Bahrain's Lola raises $3M seed to bring cake production in-house as custom orders scale across GCC

Founded in September 2023 by Othman Janahi, Lola enables users to design and order fully customised cakes through a mobile app in under a minute, choosing from thousands of designs, colours and combinations.

Apr 27, 2026

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1 min read

$200M Saudi grocery darling Nana cracks, Speedinvest launches MEA fund

Cerebras refiles for IPO at $23B with 86% of revenue still from Abu Dhabi, Uber raises Delivery Hero stake to 7% as questions mount over Gulf food delivery empire, plus this week's MENA startup, VC, and tech news round-up

Apr 24, 2026

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6 min read

SVC backs new $200M Growth Catalyst Fund targeting mid-market companies

The Riyadh-based private equity firm was founded in 2025 by Turki Al-Dayel, who chaired SVC's own Investment Committee from 2023 to 2025 before stepping down to launch the vehicle.

Apr 24, 2026

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1 min read

Jordan's Tamatem acquires Istanbul's Playable Factory, discloses $10M funding round

The acquisition integrates ad tech into what was previously a content, distribution and payments business, moving Tamatem toward controlling the full stack from game localisation through to player acquisition and monetisation.

Apr 24, 2026

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2 min read

Uber raises Delivery Hero stake to 7% as questions mount over the German group's Gulf food delivery empire

The transaction takes Prosus's stake from 26.3% to 21.8%, but the company must reach single digits by August 2026, meaning substantially more Delivery Hero stock will need to find buyers in the coming months.

Apr 24, 2026

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2 min read

Cerebras refiles for IPO at $23B valuation after clearing G42 security review, but 86% of its revenue still comes from Abu Dhabi

The AI chipmaker whose first IPO attempt stalled in late 2024 amid a US national security review, filed a fresh S-1 with the SEC on 17 April targeting a Nasdaq listing at approximately $23 billion.

Apr 24, 2026

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2 min read

Inside Speedinvest's new Middle East and Africa Fund

The inside scoop from the lead partners of Speedinvest's new dedicated Middle East and Africa fund on raising from QIA, EIB, and Mubadala, and the ups and downs of fundraising from regional LPs.

Apr 22, 2026

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5 min read

Speedinvest launches flagship Middle East and Africa fund backed by Mubadala, QIA and EIB Global

The fund is led by partners Deepali Nangia and Rana Abdel Latif and will invest across fintech, embedded finance, health, climate, AI, consumer and digital infrastructure in markets spanning MENAPT and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Apr 20, 2026

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2 min read

Saudi grocery delivery platform Nana enters financial reorganisation after raising over $200M from Kingdom Holding, STV and others

The financial reorganisation comes as Saudi Arabia's delivery and quick commerce market has become one of the most competitive in the world.

Apr 20, 2026

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2 min read

Signit raises $15m Series A to build AI-powered contract management for Saudi government and enterprise

Founded in 2021 by Mohamed El Abbouri, the company built its initial business around a digital signature platform designed specifically for the Saudi market.

Apr 20, 2026

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1 min read

Tamara turns a profit, Egypt's cybersecurity moment

Saudi fashion startup raises $7M Series A drawing PIF's Sanabil, Tabby expanding into spending accounts, cards, and money management tools in UAE, plus this week's MENA startup, VC, and tech news round-up.

Apr 17, 2026

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5 min read

Egyptian cybersecurity startup Raspire joins Y Combinator with no-code runtime protection platform

Raspire's platform allows engineering teams to add runtime protection to their applications without requiring complex integrations, specialised security teams or changes that slow down release cycles.

Apr 17, 2026

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1 min read