Happy Friday, friends 👋

A pre-product, AI-native company raising a $230M seed round is not something you see every week. That sort of cheque is usually reserved for OpenAI spin-out frontier labs led by the likes of Ilya Sutskever or Mira Murati, not for an Islamic neobank. And definitely not in MENA.

The company is called Mal (Arabic for money) and it’s led by Abdallah Abu-Sheikh, formerly of AstraTech, best known for scaling consumer platforms like Botim. Abu-Sheikh exited AstraTech in late 2024 after selling his stake to G42, and has now resurfaced with a formidable war chest, backed by BlueFive Capital.

Details remain sparse, but an interview Abdallah gave to CNBC this week offers some clues. The scale of the raise appears to be driven less by near-term runway and more by ambition. He frames the opportunity as serving a global Islamic population of roughly 2 billion people, arguing that even modest penetration would place the company among the world’s largest banks.

Perhaps most intriguing, though, is the regulatory strategy. While the company will be HQ’d in Abu Dhabi, its first banking licence may come from elsewhere. Indonesia, Pakistan, and Bangladesh were all name-checked as priority markets. The first major internal build-out will focus on credit mobility, which raises an interesting question around whether all of that $230M is equity. A product is expected as early as Q2. We’ll be watching closely.

Elsewhere this week, Jordan’s AI dream team joined forces, with Nour Al-Hassan of Arabic.AI partnering with Amjad Masad to launch free, fully localised Arabic coding courses on Replit. Former Foodics COO Djamel Mohand announced a $4M seed round for his new startup Governata. MENA venture funding hit an all-time high of $3.4B last year, per MAGNiTT. And Lean Technologies and Ziina completed the UAE’s first live Open Finance payment, hot on the heels of Ziina’s push deeper into a super app model following last week’s Violet launch.

This and much more below 👇

This week’s round-up is a 5 min read:

Mal (🇦🇪 UAE), an AI-powered Islamic financial platform serving Muslim and underbanked communities globally, has raised a record-breaking $230M Seed round led by BlueFive Capital with participation from strategic investors and family offices, to accelerate product development, secure regulatory licenses and support market entry across multiple jurisdictions.

Flooss (🇧🇭 Bahrain), a Sharia-compliant digital platform providing instant consumer financing, has secured a $22M credit facility structured by Shorooq, to scale its loan portfolio, support high-velocity growth and prepare for expansion into Saudi Arabia.

Governata (🇸🇦 KSA), an enterprise data management startup building Arabic-first AI governance software, has raised $4M in Seed funding led by Vision Ventures with participation from Joa Capital, Sanabil 500, Plus VC and angel investors, to expand its customer base across the Kingdom and accelerate the development of its gen-AI capabilities.

Yamm (🇸🇦 KSA), a post-purchase experience platform automating returns and refunds for e-commerce merchants, has closed an undisclosed Seed round co-led by Vision Ventures and Arzan VC with participation from 2Pi Ventures and Plus VC, to enhance its technology stack and scale its solution across the region.

Khosouf Studio (🇸🇦 KSA), an independent game developer specialising in premium PC, console and VR titles, has raised $600K in Seed funding led by Merak Capital, to support its growth, expand its team and relocate operations to Saudi.

Madeed (🇸🇦 KSA), a preventative health platform using lab testing and data analysis to detect early disease risks, has raised $400K in pre-Seed funding led by Vision Ventures with participation from angel investors, to launch its product, expand clinical partnerships and onboard its first cohort of members.

📈 MENA venture funding hit an all time high of $3.4B last year, defying the broader emerging market slowdown and reaching parity with Southeast Asia’s venture ecosystem, according to MAGNiTT’s FY 2025 State of Venture in Emerging Venture Markets report. Saudi Arabia anchored this growth with $1.7B in deployed capital, edging out the UAE as the region’s top destination for VC dollars. Nearly half of all funding came from global allocators, including the likes of Blackstone, General Atlantic, and Permira.

🇸🇦 Jadwa Investment is increasing its exposure to the region’s credit stack with the launch of a $200M private finance fund, securing an initial $80M close. The fund is aimed squarely at backing the Gulf’s growing SME credit gap, at a time when bank lending standards remain tight. Jadwa, which manages more than $30B in assets, has already made its first deployments into fintech platforms Lendo and JeelPay, and plans to step up deployment across a broader pipeline of deals in H1 2026.

🎬 US-based Guggenheim Brothers Media and Abu Dhabi-backed Ethmar International Holding are raising a $50M fund targeting media, entertainment, and creator economy startups, with plans to scale the vehicle to as much as $75 million. Led by Dillon Lawson-Johnston and Criswell Fiordalis, the fund plans to write $2–5 million checks into 10–15 companies, primarily in the US, where they say the creator economy is more mature.

🇦🇪 Lean Technologies and Ziina have completed the UAE’s first live Open Finance payment under the Central Bank’s new framework, marking the first real-world use of the Nebras platform. In practical terms, this allows Ziina users to move money directly between bank accounts, instantly, without relying on manual transfers or card rails. Lean provides the regulated infrastructure behind the scenes. Structurally, the move mirrors how Revolut enabled Pay by Bank payments in Europe using open banking providers like TrueLayer. The timing is notable. With Ziina pushing further into a super app model following last week’s launch of Violet, lower payment friction and stronger unit economics on everyday transactions become increasingly important.

Rami Tabbara, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Stake, joins the podcast to discuss why he considers Dubai to be a "co-founder" rather than just a city, the brutal lesson of losing his first four hires by faking a "cool startup" culture, why work-life balance is a myth if you want massive outcomes, and the company's aggressive roadmap into 2026 – including the launch of "Stake One" for full home ownership and his pragmatic approach to real estate tokenization

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🇯🇴🤝 Jordanian entrepreneurs Nour Al Hassan of Arabic.AI and Amjad Masad of Replit have partnered to launch free Arabic-language coding courses, bringing Replit’s full learning experience to Arabic-speaking learners across MENA. The initiative marks the first full localisation of Replit’s educational content into Arabic. Arabic is spoken by more than 400M people globally, yet high-quality programming and software education in Arabic remains limited. The move builds on Arabic.AI’s broader push into Arabic-first AI education and tooling, following Tarjama’s $15M Series A in 2025.

🇶🇦🇦🇪 Qatar and the UAE are set to join Pax Silica, a U.S.-led initiative focused on securing AI and semiconductor supply chains, according to U.S. Undersecretary of State Jacob Helberg. The program brings Israel and key U.S. allies into a shared technology-focused economic framework covering critical minerals, advanced manufacturing, computing, and data infrastructure. Helberg described Pax Silica as a “coalition of capabilities,” marking a shift for Gulf states from hydrocarbon-centric security toward what he called “silicon statecraft”.

🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia’s PIF is considering a wave of share sales and IPOs as early as this year, as it looks to recycle capital and tap improving conditions in the local stock market, according to Semafor. PIF has earmarked up to eight portfolio companies for potential IPOs, including Travis Kalanick’s CloudKitchens. Separately, PIF is weighing sell-downs in listed assets such as Riyad Bank, while its agribusiness arm SALIC is considering trimming its stake in Almarai. The proceeds would support domestic giga-projects and overseas investments, continuing PIF’s long-standing strategy of recycling capital alongside borrowing and government transfers. No final decisions have been made, and timing will depend on market conditions.

🇦🇪 Abu Dhabi’s newest sovereign wealth fund, L’IMAD Holding Co., has appointed its board and outlined a broad investment mandate. Its most high-profile move to date includes backing Skydance’s bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, following the fund’s first public disclosure in October. Chaired by Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, L’IMAD joins ADIA, ADQ, and Mubadala in Abu Dhabi’s expanding sovereign ecosystem. The fund plans to invest in the UAE and internationally across infrastructure, financial services, advanced technologies, and urban development.

🕹️ Saudi Arabia’s PIF plans to transfer around $12B worth of gaming-related shareholdings to its subsidiary Savvy Games Group, consolidating its global games portfolio under the games-focused vehicle. The transfer includes stakes in companies such as Nintendo and Bandai Namco Holdings. Savvy said the move will not change its investment strategy and aligns with Saudi’s National Gaming and Esports Strategy. The group, launched in 2021 with $38B allocated for gaming investments, is not involved in PIF’s separate position in Electronic Arts.