Podcast

Building Arabic AI from MENA, Why Most Pilots Fail, and Hiring Only A-Players

Dec 30, 2025

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1 min read

Building Arabic AI from MENA, Why Most Pilots Fail, and Hiring Only A-Players

Nour Al Hassan is the Founder and CEO of Tarjama& and Arabic AI, a UAE-based AI company building Arabic-first language models, enterprise agents, and document intelligence systems for governments and large organisations.

Jamie Lane

Podcast

Raising $100M to Build AI From Abu Dhabi, The Future of Work & Why AI Needs Human Supervisors

Dec 22, 2025

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1 min read

Raising $100M to Build AI From Abu Dhabi, The Future of Work & Why AI Needs Human Supervisors

Arya Bolurfrushan is the Founder and CEO of Applied AI, the company behind Opus, a platform enabling enterprises to design AI-native workflows. Earlier this year, the company closed a $55 million Series A led by G42, with Palantir and Bessemer also participating.

Jamie Lane

Contech

From Careem $3.1 exit to disrupting Saudi construction

Dec 15, 2025

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1 min read

From Careem $3.1 exit to disrupting Saudi construction

Ibrahim Manna, who led Careem’s expansion across 11 of its 15 markets, joins the podcast. He is now the Founder and CEO of BRKZ, a Saudi-based construction tech company that has raised over $50 million to tackle inefficiencies in construction procurement.

Jamie Lane

News

GCC Food Security, India’s Venture Depth & Agritech Investing

Dec 8, 2025

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1 min read

GCC Food Security, India’s Venture Depth & Agritech Investing

Mark Kahn, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Omnivore, India’s leading agritech and climate-tech venture capital firm with more than $300M AUM, joins the podcast.

Jamie Lane

News

Oct 15, 2025

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2 min read

VC React Podcast (Episode #54)

This week on VC React, we unpack BECO’s $370M twin funds and what it signals for full-stack venture in MENA, dig into aydi's $7.5M seed to bring AI to agritech, debate the PIF–Silver Lake $55B take-private of EA, and track the fintech migration as Revolut’s CEO relocates to Dubai.

Jamie Lane

News

Sep 22, 2025

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2 min read

VC React Podcast (Episode #52)

This week on VC React, we unpack Tamara’s $1.4B debt facility, debate Hala’s $157M Series B and its Square-style ambitions, and ask if Robinhood’s plan to democratise startup investing is visionary or risky.

Jamie Lane

Podcast

Sep 9, 2025

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2 min read

VC React Podcast (Episode #50)

This week on VC React, we debate Qatar’s $13B stake in Anthropic, test Munify’s play for the $30B Egyptian remittance market, and break down Intella’s Arabic digital human, Ziila.

Jamie Lane

Podcast

Sep 1, 2025

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3 min read

VC React Podcast (Episode #49)

This week on VC React, the theme is localisation: we unpack Impact46’s $53M bet on Kammelna and whether Saudi gaming IP can scale globally, dissect Gathern’s $72M Series B to test if domestic tourism can fuel an IPO, stress-test Holo’s $22M mortgage play as it enters Saudi, and debate whether Allam 34B gives Arabic a true edge in the foundation model race.

Jamie Lane

News

Aug 26, 2025

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2 min read

VC React Podcast (Episode #48)

This week on VC React, we unpack Robinhood’s push into the GCC, ask whether global unicorns upend MENA’s copycat playbook or force founders to compete head-on, dissect Impact46’s gaming spree, probe Merak’s full-stack capital model, and debate whether Saudi developers should lead with local stories or go global first.

Jamie Lane

Podcast

Aug 11, 2025

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3 min read

VC React Podcast (Episode #47)

This week on VC React, we unpack Alaan’s $48 million Series A, ask if MENA’s expense-management race (Alaan, Qashio, Pluto, Pemo) ends in one winner or vertical fiefdoms, stress-test Salasa’s AI-powered fulfilment thesis, dissect Wuilt’s “free in Egypt” pivot, and dig into Afaq Capital’s landmark secondaries deal for Falak Investment Hub’s portfolio.

Jamie Lane

Podcast

Aug 3, 2025

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3 min read

VC React Podcast (Episode #46)

This week on VC React, we break down Meta’s eye-watering billion-dollar overtures to Mira Murati’s newborn Thinking Machines Lab, taste-test Calo’s $64 million war-chest for its AI “private-chef” push, tune in to Sawt’s Arabic voice-bot gambit, and decode the UAE’s brand-new open-finance rails.

Jamie Lane

Podcast

Jul 28, 2025

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3 min read

VC React Podcast (Episode #45)

This week on VC React, we dig into Anthropic’s Dario Amodei’s Gulf money u-turn, size up Elon’s Saudi megacluster ambitions, ask whether QR‐pay darling Qlub can outrun copycats, and weigh up 500 Global’s new Abu-Dhabi-based $300 million “Sustainable Growth Fund”.

Jamie Lane

Podcast

Jul 19, 2025

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4 min read

VC React Podcast (Episode #44)

This week on VC React, we watch Arabic AI find late‐stage traction, see a Moroccan startup chase the “one‐app‐to‐rule‐them‐all” dream, get the inside scoop on Saudi’s first embedded‐insurance rails, and track a global talent tug‐of‐war that’s ripping startups out of their own cap tables.

Jamie Lane

Podcast

Jul 13, 2025

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3 min read

VC React Podcast (Episode #43)

This week on VC React, we break down a Gulf food‐delivery unicorn exit, test whether prop‐tech can out‐grow fintech, and watch Silicon Valley learn that tweets have cap‐table consequences.

Jamie Lane

Podcast

Jul 8, 2025

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3 min read

VC React Podcast (Episode #42)

This week on VC React, we unpack MENA’s fastest unicorn, tease out why logistics is having a fintech moment, and dissect the AI talent wars shaking up global research labs.

Jamie Lane

Podcast

Jun 30, 2025

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3 min read

Exploring what it looks like when founders expand with intent — from cross-border B2B consolidation and fintech infrastructure built for Gulf markets, to Cairo-born chips powering AI data centres, and the next phase of online grocery competition in Saudi Arabia.

Jamie Lane