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This week on VC React, Robinhood applies for a license in the UAE — joining global heavyweights Binance, Stripe, and Revolut in targeting GCC markets. With global unicorns entering directly rather than buying local incumbents, what happens to the traditional copycat-and-exit playbook?
Can regional startups survive head-to-head competition, or do regulators, cultural nuances, and boots-on-the-ground execution still tilt the field toward locals?
While global VC eyes are glued to AI, Saudi investors are doubling down on gaming. Impact46 has deployed into six studios at once from its $40M gaming fund, and Merak’s accelerator just graduated 17 more. Can a handful of sector-specific funds build an entire industry from scratch?
We also probe whether Saudi studios should lead with deeply local narratives before expanding globally, or if the winning strategy is to go global from day one and localise later.
We close by dissecting the “full-stack capital” model at Merak, which pairs accelerator programs with follow-on capital all the way through late stage. Is this a smarter way to de-risk nascent verticals, or a concentration gamble that leaves funds overexposed to a single category?
This week’s guests
Fahad Alfaez, Investment Manager, Jahez
Hussein Attar, CEO, Tech Invest Com
