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Deep-dives

Analysis

+2

The Rise of Egypt’s Semiconductor Industry (Part I)

Dec 11, 2025

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34 min read

The Rise of Egypt’s Semiconductor Industry (Part I)

Egypt’s semiconductor ecosystem has transformed from a quiet cluster in Heliopolis into a world-class engineering powerhouse, built slowly, deliberately, and mostly out of sight.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Analysis

+1

The MENA Tech IPO Tracker

Nov 26, 2025

•

6 min read

The MENA Tech IPO Tracker

Here's our list of likely prospects, target exchanges, the last known valuations, the appointed banks, and the key quotes from leadership. We'll update it regularly, tracking companies' plans and progress.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Saudi Arabia

+4

How the Gulf is Fighting for AI Supremacy on the Ocean Floor

Nov 12, 2025

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12 min read

How the Gulf is Fighting for AI Supremacy on the Ocean Floor

As hyperscalers like Google and Meta rewire the internet with private subsea cables, Gulf states are building their own routes to control the arteries of AI. The new battle for digital sovereignty is being waged on the ocean floor.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Deep-dives

FWDstart turns two years old

Nov 5, 2025

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4 min read

FWDstart turns two years old

FWDstart has grown from a few friends reading out of kindness to nearly 5,000 readers following MENA’s startup and venture story. A short reflection on where we began, what’s changed, and what’s next.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Startups

+3

The MENA Diaspora 50

Oct 29, 2025

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29 min read

The MENA Diaspora 50

Meet 50 of the world’s highest-potential tech startups led by MENA diaspora founders.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Saudi Arabia

+4

Key Capital’s London Trek and the Architecture of Gulf Capital Flows

Oct 22, 2025

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12 min read

Key Capital’s London Trek and the Architecture of Gulf Capital Flows

As global investors look to deploy into the Gulf, Key Capital’s London Trek has quietly become one of the region’s most effective bridges between mandate and deployment. Behind its small, curated format sits a deliberate architecture designed to convert interest into capital flow.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Saudi Arabia

+4

Saudi Data Embassies And The New Geopolitics Of Compute

Oct 8, 2025

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5 min read

Saudi Data Embassies And The New Geopolitics Of Compute

The Kingdom’s compute triple advantage, its forthcoming Global AI Hub Law, the emergence of one of the world’s largest inference clusters in Dammam, and the looming prospect of a “compute OPEC.”

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Fintech

+3

Stitching together financial infrastructure from the Gulf to the world

Sep 24, 2025

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12 min read

Stitching together financial infrastructure from the Gulf to the world

The Gulf is on the cusp of a cashless economy, yet new products can still take a year to launch. Saudi-based Stitch argues the region doesn’t just need better vendors. It needs a unified stack, built locally from the ledger up, so financial institutions across the globe can launch quickly without compromising compliance.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Analysis

+2

Advice for the solo (for now) founder

Sep 17, 2025

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4 min read

Advice for the solo (for now) founder

If you are still searching for the right co-founder, or weighing up whether to go it alone, know that you are far from the only one.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Analysis

+2

How to choose a co-founder with complementary skills

Sep 17, 2025

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7 min read

How to choose a co-founder with complementary skills

Finding a complementary co-founder is about balance. Know what you need and what you don’t have – then find someone you respect enough to handle that realm completely.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Analysis

+3

How to find the right co-founder

Sep 17, 2025

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11 min read

How to find the right co-founder

Co-founders are like a marriage, the cliché goes. But beyond the saying, how do you actually choose the person (or people) you’ll build with? And how do you set that relationship up for long-term success?

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Analysis

+2

How to get  partnership terms right: legal and equity considerations

Sep 17, 2025

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3 min read

How to get partnership terms right: legal and equity considerations

Spelling out the hard stuff early; equity division, vesting schedules, roles and titles, decision rights, departure clauses – can save enormous pain down the road.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Analysis

+2

How to manage co-founder conflict

Sep 17, 2025

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4 min read

How to manage co-founder conflict

Even the “perfect” co-founder pairing will run into friction. In fact, you should expect it. A bit of creative tension is often the hallmark of a strong founding team. The difference lies in how you handle it.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Analysis

+2

How to test for co-founder compatibility and alignment

Sep 17, 2025

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4 min read

How to test for co-founder compatibility and alignment

A variety of approaches, from gut-feel heuristics to deliberate trial periods, to vet a co-founder match.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Fintech

+4

How Lean Technologies builds around the merchant’s hierarchy of needs

Sep 15, 2025

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10 min read

How Lean Technologies builds around the merchant’s hierarchy of needs

Lean’s Mehdi Tazi on why revenue in Saudi still skews to data while the UAE is driven by payments, how the firm applies Maslow’s hierarchy to merchant needs, and what A/B testing reveals about consumer trust.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Analysis

+2

The Gulf’s new space race for sovereignty

Sep 3, 2025

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9 min read

The Gulf’s new space race for sovereignty

Why sovereignty in space matters, the divergent bets of the UAE and Saudi Arabia, the players shaping the race, and whether these efforts will coalesce into a regional ecosystem, or remain a contest for supremacy.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Interview

+3

Inside the shifting landscape of debt financing in the Gulf

Aug 27, 2025

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10 min read

Inside the shifting landscape of debt financing in the Gulf

Armineh Baghoomian, Managing Director and EMEA Head at PFG, reflects on the $300M they’ve deployed across MENA, the region’s debt literacy evolution, why Tabby was an obvious bet, the typical ranges in the Gulf for spreads, fees, warrants, and covenants, the green (and red) flags they watch for when founders come knocking, and what excites her most about RNPL and B2B BNPL.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Analysis

+2

The battle to own Arabic AI voice

Aug 20, 2025

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9 min read

The battle to own Arabic AI voice

Why voice is arguably the most important AI communication interface; how Arabic dialectical diversity complicates matters; the regional use cases and verticals; the competitive landscape; and what might come next.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Interview

+4

How AI is changing software testing

Aug 6, 2025

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11 min read

How AI is changing software testing

Two Tunisian founders behind one of Africa’s biggest startup exits are back, and targeting the slowest part of modern software delivery. Fresh off the back of a $9M Seed round, Karim Jouini shares how Thunder Code's AI‐driven “personas” test like domain experts, why early dilution can be a superpower, and the surprising policy shift that could reverse Tunisia’s brain drain.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Analysis

+3

The rise and rise of venture debt across the Gulf

Jul 30, 2025

•

7 min read

The rise and rise of venture debt across the Gulf

What's behind the increase in new venture debt funds launching across the Gulf, promising “founder-first,” non-dilutive capital? Who are the players rewriting the playbook? And what does all of this mean for founders, investors, and LPs?

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Fintech

+4

Tabby's tightrope: inside the numbers

Jul 17, 2025

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4 min read

Tabby's tightrope: inside the numbers

Unpacking Tabby’s Q1 2025 numbers in Saudi Arabia – profit surge, credit‐loss drag, break‐neck revenue growth, and the leverage‐heavy funding stack behind the Middle East’s most valuable VC‐backed fintech company.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Saudi Arabia

+3

How Adam Neumann Is Turning Riyadh into His Second Act

Jul 9, 2025

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5 min read

How Adam Neumann Is Turning Riyadh into His Second Act

$350 million from a16z, $300 million from 33 Saudi families, a full Saudi launch in 60 days, and 92% of “trial guests” now tenants. Is Flow just WeLive in a thobe, or the first real brand in the Kingdom’s untapped BtR market? We unpack what Flow is, why a16z doubled down, how Neumann went local overnight, and just how big Saudi’s premium-renting gap really is.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Fintech

+6

Valu and the Discipline Engine

Jun 25, 2025

•

9 min read

Valu and the Discipline Engine

Inside Valu’s EGX debut: With Amazon now on the cap table, we unpack the model behind Egypt’s most disciplined fintech, covering product strategy, underwriting logic, unit economics, investor dynamics, and the operators running the machine.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Interview

+2

Why Iraq is MENA's sleeping giant

Jun 18, 2025

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13 min read

Why Iraq is MENA's sleeping giant

What it takes to build a startup in Iraq, lessons from launching Careem, and why fragmentation, not TAM, is the real signal for venture-scale opportunity in frontier markets.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Saudi Arabia

+3

Tamara turned a profit, but the real story is how

Jun 4, 2025

•

3 min read

Tamara turned a profit, but the real story is how

Saudi Arabia’s fintech crown jewel is now profitable. But its Q1 financials come with caveats, and reveal a seemingly quiet re-architecture of its business model.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane
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