Egypt-based deeptech startup Nawah Scientific has closed a $23 million Series A round, comprising a mix of equity and debt, as the company marks ten years since its founding.
The round was led by Life Ventures Holding, with participation from Den Ventures, Empire M, AfricInvest, and Elsewedy, alongside banks and angel investors. Nawah said the capital will be deployed across three priorities: building a global R&D centre in Rwanda, doubling laboratory capacity in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and expanding into North Africa and Europe.
Founded in 2015 by Omar Shokry Saqr, Nawah operates a cloud lab model that allows researchers and companies to access advanced scientific and industrial testing services remotely. The company works across four business units spanning life sciences, food and agriculture, pharmaceuticals, and certified reference materials.
Nawah’s Life Science Research unit forms the company’s core platform, offering advanced testing and research services to academic institutions and industry. Its Food and Agriculture arm provides certified safety and quality testing for producers and exporters, while its Pharma unit supports R&D and formulation for pharmaceutical and cosmetics companies. Through its CRM business, Nawah also produces certified reference materials, placing it among a relatively small group of global suppliers of the standards used for calibration, method validation and quality control in regulated industries.
Founder and CEO Omar Saqr said the funding strengthens Nawah’s research and technology backbone as it enters its next phase of growth. Speaking at the company’s anniversary event in Cairo, Hossam Heiba, CEO of Egypt’s General Authority for Investment and Free Zones, described Nawah as an example of how advanced research capabilities can be translated into value-added, export-ready services.
Over the past decade, Nawah has tested more than one million samples, built a team of 160 researchers, and serves clients in over 30 countries. The planned R&D centre in Rwanda will span approximately 10,000 square metres, while the capacity expansion in Egypt and Saudi Arabia is aimed at meeting rising regional demand for outsourced scientific testing.
