US approves NVIDIA sales to UAE, Revolut’s CEO relocates to Dubai

Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick granted Saudi citizenship, Cerebras withdraws IPO filing after $1B raise amid G42 scrutiny, Egypt-based agtech Tagaddod raises $26.3M Series A, plus this week’s MENA startup, VC, and tech news round-up.

Tagaddod raises $26.3M Series A to scale renewable feedstock supply chains

Founded in 2013 by Nour El Assal and Ahmed ElFarnawany, Tagaddod operates a proprietary tech platform that collects, traces, and certifies waste-based feedstocks.

Tamara’s billion-dollar facility and a fintech frenzy

All things Money20/20, a staggering 23 funding announcements, HALA raises $157M Series B, inDrive launches in Riyadh, plus this week’s MENA startup, VC, and tech news round-up

$525M Property Finder deal, Revolut gets UAE nod, Noon eyes dual listing

Amir Farha on Property Finder and the last mile of venture investing, a new $200M growth-stage fund, Revolut gets UAE nod, Noon eyes $10BN dual Saudi-UAE listing, plus this week’s MENA startup, VC, and tech news round-up.

HUMAIN sells out AI capacity, Mistral sizing up GCC

Overseas clients drive 99% of HUMAIN AI infra demand, Impact46 invests $53M in Saudi gaming studio Kammelna, proptech Holo raises $22M Series A to fuel Saudi expansion, plus this week’s MENA startup, VC, and tech news round-up.

Gathern lodges $72M, Robinhood sets sights on Dubai

The largest ever round for a female-led GCC startup, Dubai’s VARA fines Fuze over anti-money laundering failures, even more funding for Saudi gaming startups, plus this week’s MENA startup, VC, and tech news round-up.

Talabat revenue surges, Saudi's gaming push

Breaking down H1 earnings for Talabat, Valu, Jahez and Presight, HUMAIN to launch Arabic-centric LLM by end of August, Impact46 invests $6.6M+ across five gaming studios, plus this week’s MENA startup, VC, and tech news round-up.

Abu Dhabi eyes $25B AI fund, Saudi hosts OpenAI models

Alaan raises $48M Series A to scale AI finance agents, Egypt-born founder's startup jumps to $3.1B valuation, Salasa closes $30M Series B, plus this week’s MENA startup, VC, and tech news round-up.

BOUK raises $400K pre‐seed to expand Saudi coffee subscription platform

Salasa closes $30M Series B to embed AI across e‐commerce fulfilment

Founded in 2017 by Abdulmajeed Alyemni and Hasan Alhazmi, Salasa provides end‐to‐end logistics services for online retailers, including warehousing, inventory management, last‐mile delivery, bonded zones, and cross‐border shipping.

Revolut eyes Morocco, Breadfast's valuation jumps

Calo closes $39M Series B extension, MENA’s new playbook for non‐dilutive funding, Breadfast valuation jumps 31% to $382M in six months, plus this week’s MENA startup, VC, and tech news round-up.

Anthropic's Gulf flip-flop, 500 Global's Abu Dhabi expansion

500 Global launches $300M Sustainable Growth initiative, Qlub raises $30M Series B, foreign startups flock to Saudi Arabia as VC funding hits $860M in H1, plus this week’s MENA startup, VC, and tech news round-up.

Foreign startups flock to Saudi Arabia as VC funding hits $860M in H1

Foreign interest in Saudi’s startup ecosystem is surging, with the Ministry of Investment issuing 550 new Riyadi licences to non-Saudi startups in H1 2025 – a 118% year-over-year jump.

Journify raises new round to double down on first-party data marketing across the Gulf

The company secures fresh backing from Shorooq Partners, Bunat Ventures and Plug and Play, in a deal that comes six months after its US $4 million round and pushes the company’s valuation to twice its February 2025 level.

Lime launches in Egypt with $9.4M investment to power education financing

Led by CEO and Managing Director Ahmed Mohsen, Lime is targeting a large and underserved market. Lime offers installment plans of up to 12 months for education expenses, with loan values of up to EGP 1 million and approvals granted within minutes through a fully digital onboarding journey.

Flend raises $3M to scale embedded SME lending in Egypt

Founded by Ahmed Zaki, Nehal Helmy, and Saif Edeen El Bendari, Flend is licensed by Egypt’s Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) as a Digital Non-Banking Financial Institution. The company offers short-term working capital loans to SMEs through a fully digital platform, streamlining everything from onboarding and credit scoring to disbursement and collections using digitally binding contracts.

500 Global launches $300M Sustainable Growth initiative from new Abu Dhabi base

Leading the new practice is Dr. Alaa Murabit, a former executive at the Gates Foundation and one of the architects behind the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

ZabonEx raises $100K to improve food forecasting across Oman’s F&B sector

Founded in 2023 by Hatim Moosa and Almuhannad Al Balushi, ZabonEx delivers real-time, customer-level demand forecasts for F&B producers, distributors, and retailers. The goal is simple but pressing: help businesses reduce overproduction, cut waste, and better align inventory with actual consumption patterns.

Qlub raises $30M to take UAE-born dining payments platform global

Founded in 2021 by Eyad Alkassar and Mahmoud Fouz, Qlub's new funding round, co-led by long-time backers Shorooq Partners and Cherry Ventures, also saw participation from telecom giant e&, sovereign investor Mubadala, and Legend Capital.

Musk eyes Saudi servers, AI talent scramble

Meta acquires US-based PlayAI, founded by Egyptian engineer Mahmoud Felfel, Elon Musk’s xAI targets Saudi Arabia for its next wave of data centre expansion, Lucidya lands a $30M Series B, plus this week’s MENA startup, VC, and tech news round-up.

PALM raises 7-figure pre-seed round to become the Mediterranean’s go-to savings platform

The startup, founded in 2024 by Mazen El Kerdany and Ahmed Ashour, is reimagining how Egyptians approach saving – not by telling them to cut back, but by embedding smart, goal-based nudges and curated investment options directly into everyday financial decisions.

Saudi startup Wittify.ai raises $1.5M to build native Arabic AI agents

Founded in 2024 and now operating out of Riyadh, Dubai, and Cairo, Wittify is positioning itself as a regional leader in Arabic conversational AI by going beyond basic language models.

Jahez’s $245M Qatari splash, Valu eyes Jordan roll-out

Jahez enters Qatar with $245M Snoonu deal, Egypt’s Valu secures go-ahead for Jordan entry, and Huspy lands $59 for Saudi expansion, plus this week’s MENA startup, VC, and tech news round-up.

Dubai-based XPANCEO raises $250M Series A at $1.35B valuation to advance smart contact lenses

Founded in 2021 by Russian entrepreneur Roman Axelrod and Ukrainian physicist Valentin Volkov, Xpanceo is attempting to integrate extended reality (XR) directly into soft contact lenses.

BioSapien extends Pre-Series A to over $8M as Globivest joins Global Ventures, Golden Gate in backing MediChipTM

The UAE and US-based healthtech startup is developing a 3D-printed, slow-release drug delivery platform for localised cancer treatment, with new capital supporting global expansion and senior hires across R&D, regulatory, and medical affairs.