Happy Friday, friends 👋

Unlucky for some, but on the sidelines of the Private Capital Forum in Riyadh, SVC CEO Nabeel Koshak revealed that upwards of 13 of the Saudi LPs’ portfolio companies have already begun preparing for a public market debut over the coming years. Won’t someone please think of the poor Tadawul bell?

Elsewhere, in the latest twist from the Saudi food delivery wars, Jahez has teamed up with Noon – with both now offering each other’s services within their respective apps. The partnership follows a string of efforts by Jahez in recent months, from the acquisition of Snoonu to an investment this week in Doos, all seemingly aimed at easing investor concerns. Unfortunately, with the stock slumping to its lowest-ever share price yesterday, those moves don’t appear to be winning backers over just yet.

One Saudi public company that investors can’t seem to get enough of is Rasan. Following its market debut around 18 months ago, the former Impact46-backed Insurtech has seen its trajectory go only one way – up and to the right.

And there’s been plenty of M&A activity this week too, from Moroccan super app Ora acquiring last-mile delivery platform Cathedis, to Zid acquiring Zamit to strengthen its entry into the Egyptian market, and Saudi contech Wakecap continuing its global march with the acquisition of Brazilian player Trackfly.

To mark FWDstart turning two, we’re also still offering a 30% discount on premium subscriptions until next week. These subscriptions make the work possible. They allow us to go deeper, to stay independent, and to keep building something that lasts.

This and much more below 👇

This week’s round-up is a 5 min read:

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Builtop (🇸🇦 KSA), a contech startup digitising procurement and trade credit for contractors, has raised $11M Seed in a mix of debt and equity led by TAM Capital and strategic investors to scale its platform and embedded financing for Vision 2030 projects.

Bonat (🇸🇦 KSA), an AI-powered customer engagement platform, has raised $6M Series A led by Tali Ventures, with participation from anb seed Fund, Rua Growth Fund, RZM Investments, and angel investors. The company will expand AI capabilities, launch personalised campaign automation, and grow across the GCC.

Stream (🇸🇦 KSA), a fintech platform automating billing and payments for businesses, has raised $4M Seed led by Outliers VC, with participation from BYLD Ventures and Careem Co-founder Abdullah Elyas. The funds will support product development, compliance, and user experience as Stream scales its payment infrastructure across Saudi.

Doos (🇸🇦 KSA), a q-commerce platform founded in 2023 by Tala Al Sahsah, has received a strategic investment from Jahez to expand its curated delivery offering and strengthen Jahez’s presence in Saudi’s fast-growing quick-commerce sector.

WildyNess (🇹🇳 Tunisia), a B2B2C traveltech startup connecting travellers with authentic local experiences, has closed an undisclosed pre-seed co-led by Bridging Angels and the African Diaspora Network to expand into Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and the UAE.

Arab Therapy (🇯🇴 Jordan), a digital mental health platform, has received a strategic investment from VMS to expand in Saudi Arabia and launch its AI-powered Arabic mental health assistant.

🇦🇪 The Lab Ventures, a Dubai- and Madrid-based early-stage fund, has closed its second fund at €29.1 million to back pre-seed and seed-stage startups driving B2B digital transformation across proptech, healthtech, and AI-powered professional services in MENA and Europe. The fund, supported by Spain’s ICO, regional family offices, and entrepreneurs, builds on the firm’s dual-market strategy linking Southern Europe’s product talent with the UAE’s demand for scalable digital solutions.

🌱 Novastar Ventures has announced a $50 million commitment to back Egyptian startups developing climate-resilient agricultural technologies. The funding is part of a $200 million investment from the Green Climate Fund into Novastar’s third fund. The capital will target smart agriculture, clean energy, water management, and environmental data solutions, helping Egyptian agritech startups improve resource efficiency and reduce emissions.

🇸🇦 SVC CEO Nabil Koshak revealed that more than 13 portfolio companies have begun preparations to go public in the coming years. Speaking at the Private Capital Forum, Koshak said SVC aims to build a $3 billion investment portfolio by 2030, with $1.5 billion already committed across 63 funds investing in over 1,200 startups. He added that SVC’s annual investment commitments have more than doubled in two years, from $500 million to $1.2 billion, as part of efforts to bridge private and public markets through venture capital, growth, private equity, and debt funds.

💸 First Circle Capital, a Morocco- and Uganda-based VC firm, secured $6M from IFC to back early-stage African fintech startups, part of its $30M fund focused on financial inclusion and digital infrastructure. Additional investors include We-Fi, DGGF, FSD Africa, MSMEDA, and Axian Group. The firm has invested in 15 startups across eight markets, with 30% women-led.

💳 Alaan, the UAE-based corporate card and spend management platform, has launched one of the Middle East’s first employee equity buyback programmes, allowing team members to sell a portion of their vested stock options at the same valuation as its $48M Series A led by Peak XV Partners. The move, rare for a Series A-stage company in the region, provides early employees with tangible liquidity.

🇪🇬 DisrupTech Ventures, has made its first investment in Morocco with a stake in Chari, the Y Combinator–backed fintech startup digitising informal retail. Founded in 2020, Chari enables small retailers to order FMCG products while offering embedded financial services such as payments, micro-insurance, and working capital. The move follows Chari’s $12M Series A led by SPE Capital and Orange Ventures, and its recent payment institution licence from Bank Al-Maghrib, allowing it to issue IBANs, debit cards, and process domestic and international transfers. As part of the deal, DisrupTech will join Chari’s board.

🇲🇦 ORA Technologies and Azur Innovation Fund have acquired Cathedis, Morocco’s leading e-commerce logistics and last-mile delivery company, marking the first locally financed startup consolidation in the country. The deal strengthens ORA’s reach across fintech, foodtech, and logistics, building a full-stack digital ecosystem. Founded in 2023 by Omar Alami, ORA raised $7.5M Series A from Azur in July and now adds delivery infrastructure through Cathedis to complete its e-commerce chain. The acquisition also delivered a 100% IRR exit for Beltone Venture Capital, Cathedis’s prior investor.

🇪🇬 Zid, the Saudi e-commerce enablement platform, has acquired Zammit, an Egyptian e-commerce company, marking its official entry into Egypt and a broader expansion into African markets. Under the deal, Zammit will leverage Zid’s technology and infrastructure to scale its operations locally and lead Zid’s activities in Egypt, including sales, merchant onboarding, and technical support, ahead of regional rollout. Founded in 2020, Zammit helps businesses launch and manage online stores. The agreement takes effect November 6, 2025.

🇸🇦 WakeCap Technologies, the Saudi-born construction tech firm, has acquired Brazil’s Trackfy, an industrial workforce safety and operations tracking solution. The deal extends WakeCap’s footprint into Latin America and allows it to support clients across the full lifecycle, from construction through operations. The acquisition comes on the heels of WakeCap’s $28 million Series A funding round led by UP.Partners earlier this year.

🇦🇪 Palantir and Dubai Holding have launched Aither, a joint venture to deploy AI across government and private sectors and help Dubai achieve AED 100B ($27B) in annual digital transformation gains. Aither will focus on finance, logistics, real estate, and hospitality, while also developing Emirati AI talent and governance frameworks. Palantir’s software already powers Dubai Holding units including Nakheel, Meraas, and Jumeirah.

🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia is in talks with Syria to build data cables linking the Kingdom to Europe, as part of Riyadh’s push to become a global AI hub, according to exclusive reporting from Semafor. The proposed $500 million SilkLink project would allow data to bypass the Red Sea, where repeated cable cuts have caused major internet outages. STC, Saudi’s largest telecom operator, is among five shortlisted bidders alongside consortiums from Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, and the UAE. Syrian ICT Minister Abdulsalam Haykal said a partner will be chosen this month, adding that the route through Syria and Jordan could reduce latency and offer an alternative to connecting via Israel.

🤖 Microsoft has committed $15.2 billion in investments across the UAE through 2030, its largest national commitment outside the US. The $3.85T tech giant is exporting over 60,000 Nvidia A100-class chips, expanding data centres, and training 1 million people in technical skills. Since 2023, Microsoft has already invested $7.3B, including its equity stake in G42, where President Brad Smith joined the board. Another $7.9B will follow by decade’s end. The company also inked a deal with ADNOC this week to co-develop AI agents for the energy sector.

🇸🇦 Jahez and noon have partnered to integrate their platforms, creating one of the region’s most comprehensive commerce networks. The deal gives Jahez users direct access to noon Minutes through the app, offering rapid delivery across multiple categories via noon’s dark store network, while Jahez’s 50,000+ restaurants will be available within the noon app. Integration begins in November 2025 for noon Minutes on Jahez and December 2025 for Jahez within noon.

🇸🇦 SPICE, a premium dining and restaurant-tech startup founded by Zeid Husban, Wadi Hawi, and Yousef Sawalha, has launched in Saudi Arabia. The platform introduces “Dining Capital,” offering restaurants upfront, non-debt, non-dilutive funding repaid through diners, not equity or loans. Through its app, SPICE connects high-value guests with curated restaurants, streamlining reservations and rewards. The founders, who previously exited ifood.jo to Delivery Hero and POSRocket to Foodics, selected Saudi Arabia as the launch market, and plan to expand across the GCC and Europe.

🇸🇦 Rasan reported Q3 2025 profits of SAR 82.3 million, up 125% YoY, as shares hit an all-time high of SAR 111 – a 50% gain over the past year. Since its IPO 509 days ago, the Saudi insurtech firm has created more than SAR 9 million in market value per day, growing over 90% YoY as a listed company and cementing its position among the Kingdom’s top-performing tech stocks.

🇸🇦 Nice One Beauty reported a 10.95% year-on-year revenue increase to SAR 772.7 million for the nine months ending September 30, 2025, though net profit fell 56.3% to SAR 28.8 million as the company prioritised long-term expansion over short-term gains. The rise in revenue was driven by higher order volumes, new retail stores, and growth in private label brands, while profits were weighed down by marketing and operational expansion costs tied to physical retail and new hires.