# FWDStart | MENA Startups, Tech News & VC Insights

> FWDstart delivers deeply reported, important stories on startups, venture capital, and tech in MENA you won’t find anywhere else.

This file provides information about FWDStart | MENA Startups, Tech News & VC Insights to help large language models understand and reference this publication's content.

## Posts
- [Tabby and Tamara diverge in Saudi, CMA probes the Kingdom's IPO flops](https://www.fwdstart.me/p/tabby-and-tamara-diverge-in-saudi-cma-probes-the-kingdom-s-ipo-flops): Talabat raises full-year guidance as non-GCC markets surge, Anghami co-founder Eddy Maroun launches $100M Arabic music IP fund, qlub wins in-principle UAE payments approval, plus this week's MENA startup, VC, and tech news round-up.
- [A terrible business, but an amazing Trojan horse](https://www.fwdstart.me/p/a-terrible-business-but-an-amazing-trojan-horse): As SILQ closes $100 million for its embedded finance arm Fina, the survivors of the B2B marketplace crash are out to parlay their order data into fintech empires.
- [Tamara’s Saudi Q2 revenue more than doubles as new lending book closes in on BNPL](https://www.fwdstart.me/p/tamara-saudi-finance-arm-more-than-doubles-q2-revenue-but-profit-falls-32-from-q1-as-credit-charge): Q2 revenue more than doubled to SAR 707 million as consumer-financing receivables reached SAR 3.14 billion, just behind the SAR 3.36 billion held in pay-in-instalments.
- [UAE customer intelligence startup Cobi raises $1M pre-seed led by Lunara Partners](https://www.fwdstart.me/p/uae-customer-intelligence-startup-cobi-raises-1m-pre-seed-led-by-lunara-partners): The new capital will be used to expand enterprise deployments across the Middle East and internationally, and to further develop Cobi’s recommendation and decisioning capabilities.
- [Why the Old MENA Startup Playbook Is Dead](https://www.fwdstart.me/p/why-the-old-mena-startup-playbook-is-dead): Rabea Ataya has accumulated more scar tissue than most founders ever will. We sit down with one of MENA’s OG entrepreneurs to talk capital, ownership, staying hungry, building for decades and why the playbook that once made him successful would probably fail today.
- [Tabby's Saudi unit Q2 profit falls 54% as revenue grows 21% year on year](https://www.fwdstart.me/p/tabby-saudi-unit-q2-profit-falls-54-against-21-revenue-rise-as-loan-book-contracts): The Riyadh-headquartered BNPL lender's repayments outpaced new lending by roughly SAR 360 million between April and June, as its new SAMA licence opens a push into longer-term consumer and SME lending.
- [Mubadala makes Moove a unicorn, Careem hands Uber a widening loss](https://www.fwdstart.me/p/mubadala-makes-moove-a-unicorn-careem-hands-uber-a-widening-loss): Tamara lands Saudi Arabia's first BNPL investment-grade rating, PIF-owned HUMAIN invests in MOZN, Beltone exits Egyptian proptech BirdNest at 3.5x, plus this week's MENA startup, VC, and tech news round-up
- [Tamara assigned A- investment-grade rating in step toward Saudi debt markets](https://www.fwdstart.me/p/tamara-assigned-a-investment-grade-rating-in-step-toward-saudi-debt-markets): The first credit rating in the company's history, issued by Tassnief with a Stable outlook, gives the Riyadh BNPL lender the credential it needs to raise in local capital markets, adding a third funding leg alongside its Goldman, Citi and Apollo warehouse facility.
- [Digging into Travis Kalanick’s $2B Gulf food computer](https://www.fwdstart.me/p/digging-into-travis-kalanick-2b-gulf-food-computer): Inside the cloud-kitchen infrastructure bet once headed for Tadawul, which survived the bust, expanded across the Gulf and now sits beneath Kalanick’s $1.7B a16z-backed Atoms comeback.
- [Moove raises $250M at $2.1B led by Abu Dhabi's Mubadala to build the depot layer for robotaxis](https://www.fwdstart.me/p/moove-raises-250m-at-2-1b-led-by-abu-dhabi-s-mubadala-to-build-the-depot-layer-for-robotaxis): The Dubai-headquartered company's valuation is 2.8x the $750 million it commanded in its $100 million round Uber led in 2024.
- [Saudi's Rime raises $2M+ seed to run AI agents on-site for retail chains](https://www.fwdstart.me/p/saudi-rime-raises-2m-seed-to-run-ai-agents-on-site-for-retail-chains): Seedra Ventures led again after backing the pre-Seed, in a round joined by Athlah Investment and Unity Invest Partners, behind a platform that runs decisions on-site through edge computing rather than sending footage to remote data centres.
- [SCOOP: Careem’s first public P&L reveals widening losses as growth slows sharply](https://www.fwdstart.me/p/careem-first-public-p-l-reveals-widening-losses-as-growth-slows-sharply): e& disclosures show the Everything App lost $122M at the operating level in the first half of 2026, while revenue growth slowed sharply before the Abu Dhabi group agreed to relinquish control.
- [UAE credit files add Tabby and Tamara, Abhi eyes Karachi listing](https://www.fwdstart.me/p/uae-credit-files-add-tabby-and-tamara-abhi-eyes-karachi-listing): Brookfield buys Jordanian founder Moe Hajabed's Aypa Power for $7B, SILQ secures $75M debt facility from Fasanara, Abhi plans $11M Karachi listing, plus this week's MENA startup, VC, and tech news round-up
- [Brookfield to buy Aypa Power for $7B, the battery storage platform built by Jordan's Moe Hajabed](https://www.fwdstart.me/p/brookfield-to-buy-aypa-power-for-7b-the-battery-storage-platform-built-by-jordan-s-moe-hajabed): The Amman-raised founder started the business in Canada as a behind-the-meter storage developer, sold it to Blackstone in 2020 when it had around 200 MWh contracted, and has grown it into North America's largest standalone battery platform at 6.5 GW, with a pipeline above 20 GW.
- [UAE credit reports to include Tabby and Tamara accounts from July](https://www.fwdstart.me/p/uae-credit-reports-to-include-tabby-and-tamara-accounts-from-july): Al Etihad Credit Bureau will add BNPL data from both providers, covering existing and new customers and historical transactions.