UAE
Fintech
+2
Mar 2, 2026
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4 min read
AWS data centre in the UAE struck by "objects," taking fintech startups offline as Iranian missiles hit the Gulf
Unidentified objects struck an Amazon Web Services facility in the UAE on Sunday, triggering a fire and a cascading outage across at least 38 cloud services. Sarwa, Stake, Liv by Emirates NBD, and ADCB all reported disruptions.
News
+2
Feb 27, 2026
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4 min read
G42 opens job applications for AI agents, joining a global race to put bots on the org chart
The Abu Dhabi technology group, which last year led a $55 million round in Applied AI and is building chip safeguards to satisfy Washington, has begun recruiting AI agents into structured enterprise roles.
News
+2
Feb 27, 2026
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8 min read
Peak XV raises $1.3B amid partner exodus while quietly deepening its MENA portfolio
The firm formerly known as Sequoia India closed its first independent fundraise after three senior partners departed over a profit-sharing dispute on a 52x return. Meanwhile, GV Ravishankar has been quietly building from Dubai, sitting on the boards of Tabby, Huspy, and Lean Technologies, and leading four MENA deals in the past year.
News
+3
Feb 24, 2026
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5 min read
Presight-Shorooq Fund reveals first five investments from $100M AI fund, backing startups from Abu Dhabi to San Francisco
The fund, a partnership between G42's Presight and Abu Dhabi VC Shorooq, has invested in NodeShift, Candid, Hebbia, Blue, and Crunched after screening over 1,000 companies in its first 120 days.
Startups
+3
Feb 20, 2026
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2 min read
Abu Dhabi's Origen raises $50M from Bluefive Capital to deploy AI across government services, smart homes, and manufacturing
Founded in 2025, Origen is the second major investment from former Investcorp executive Hazem Ben-Gacem's Bluefive Capital, which led Mal's record $230 million MENA seed round in January.
Startups
+3
Feb 14, 2026
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3 min read
Dubai's AlgoDriven acquired by Emergence in all-cash deal after scaling revenue 5x since Series A
Founded in 2017 by Glenn Harwood and Jaron Crossland, the automotive AI and data platform counts Oman Technology Fund, Global Ventures, 500 Global, Automotive Ventures, and Oraseya Capital among exiting investors.
News
+3
Feb 13, 2026
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3 min read
Anthropic raises $30B Series G at $380B valuation, with Abu Dhabi's MGX co-leading and Qatar's QIA participating
Abu Dhabi's MGX, absent from Anthropic's $13 billion Series F last year, enters as a co-lead. QIA, which backed the Series F, returns as a participating investor.
Startups
+3
Feb 12, 2026
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2 min read
UAE legaltech startup Clara acquired by Singapore’s Ascentium
Founded in 2018, Clara raised approximately $5.6 million across multiple rounds from investors including Techstars, 500 Global, Wamda Capital, and Shorooq.
Analysis
+2
Feb 11, 2026
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20 min read
Robotaxis, Chinese Competition, and What Happens To The Gulf's Drivers
What it actually costs to run an AV, how Cruise's collapse handed the UAE to Beijing, and how all of this might affect Careem, Uber, Yango and Bolt.
Startups
+4
Feb 4, 2026
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3 min read
Qureos raises $5m seed round to cut hiring timelines from months to days
The round was led by Prosus Ventures and Salica Oryx Fund, with participation from Oraseya Capital, Plus VC, F6 Ventures, BDev Ventures, Sunny Side Venture Partners, and existing investors COTU Ventures and Globivest.
Funding
+4
Feb 2, 2026
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3 min read
Shorooq launches $200m late-stage growth fund backed by QIA
The fund is backed by Qatar Investment Authority alongside other sovereign and institutional investors from the GCC and Asia, with the launch announced at Web Summit Qatar.
Startups
+4
Jan 27, 2026
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4 min read
Property Finder secures $170M in new funding led by Mubadala and BECO Capital
The round follows $525 million invested in 2025 by funds advised by Permira, with significant participation from Blackstone Growth.
Startups
+4
Jan 27, 2026
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2 min read
Dubai-based Mantas raises $1.77M Seed to tackle cloud downtime risk with parametric insurance
The round includes participation from Nuwa Capital, Suhail Ventures, Plus VC, OQAL Angel Syndicate, and a group of angel investors.
News
+2
Jan 23, 2026
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3 min read
OpenAI courts Middle East investors for potential $50B mega-round as Sam Altman meets Abu Dhabi-backed funds
The talks are preliminary, but OpenAI is said to be exploring a raise of $50 billion or more at a valuation in the range of $750 billion to $830 billion.
Startups
+5
Jan 22, 2026
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3 min read
Applied AI raises pre-Series B from Mubadala and Arbor Ventures to scale enterprise workflow platform
The investment comes just months after Applied AI raised a $55 million Series A at a reported $300 million pre-money valuation in February 2025.
Startups
+3
Jan 15, 2026
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3 min read
Arabic.AI partners with Amjad Masad’s Replit to launch free, fully localised Arabic coding courses across MENA
The initiative marks the first full localisation of Replit’s educational content into Arabic, giving students, engineers, and aspiring developers access to hands-on, production-ready software development courses without language barriers.
Fintech
+5
Jan 13, 2026
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3 min read
Abdallah Abu-Sheikh’s Mal, raises $230M in largest Seed round in MENA for AI-powered Islamic finance platform
The round was led by BlueFive Capital, which manages more than $4 billion in assets, with participation from strategic investors and family offices.
Fintech
+3
Jan 9, 2026
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3 min read
Revolut continues UAE hiring spree, as it eyes acquisition of neobank FUPS in Turkey
The London-headquartered fintech is advertising new roles across compliance, risk, and senior commercial leadership, including a Head of Marketing and Growth.
SaaS
+4
Jan 5, 2026
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2 min read
MilkStraw AI raises $2M seed round led by VentureSouq
The UAE-focused startup, which automates cloud infrastructure cost management, also saw participation from Ibtikar Fund and M Capital. The company said the round was closed in approximately 45 days.
