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News

Food Delivery

+3

Exclusive: Careem is winding down most of its consumer services in Saudi Arabia

May 3, 2026

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4 min read

Exclusive: Careem is winding down most of its consumer services in Saudi Arabia

Co-founder Abdulla Elyas confirms a 'strategic pause' as Careem strips most consumer services from its Saudi app, with the exception of Rides and Bikes.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Contech

+3

Saudi's BRKZ lands investment from SIDF's investment arm as supply chain platform eyes cloud manufacturing

Apr 29, 2026

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1 min read

Saudi's BRKZ lands investment from SIDF's investment arm as supply chain platform eyes cloud manufacturing

The investment will accelerate BRKZ's evolution from a procurement digitisation platform into what the company calls cloud manufacturing.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

News

+3

Bahrain's Rain acquires Saudi financial media company Digital Ma'arefa in bid to reach one million Arabic-speaking crypto followers

Apr 28, 2026

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2 min read

Bahrain's Rain acquires Saudi financial media company Digital Ma'arefa in bid to reach one million Arabic-speaking crypto followers

Digital Ma'arefa is a Saudi-based financial media company behind The Finance Memo, Crypto Memo, AI Memo and a broader newsletter and podcast network reaching more than one million followers and over 100,000 newsletter subscribers.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Fintech

+4

Dubai's Comfi raises $65M pre-Series A in equity and debt to scale B2B buy now, pay later across MENA

Apr 27, 2026

•

1 min read

Dubai's Comfi raises $65M pre-Series A in equity and debt to scale B2B buy now, pay later across MENA

The company offers a B2B buy now, pay later product that allows SME suppliers to provide up to 90-day payment terms to their business customers while receiving payment themselves within 24 hours.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Foodtech

+4

Bahrain's Lola raises $3M seed to bring cake production in-house as custom orders scale across GCC

Apr 27, 2026

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1 min read

Bahrain's Lola raises $3M seed to bring cake production in-house as custom orders scale across GCC

Founded in September 2023 by Othman Janahi, Lola enables users to design and order fully customised cakes through a mobile app in under a minute, choosing from thousands of designs, colours and combinations.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Saudi Arabia

+3

SVC backs new $200M Growth Catalyst Fund targeting mid-market companies

Apr 24, 2026

•

1 min read

SVC backs new $200M Growth Catalyst Fund targeting mid-market companies

The Riyadh-based private equity firm was founded in 2025 by Turki Al-Dayel, who chaired SVC's own Investment Committee from 2023 to 2025 before stepping down to launch the vehicle.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Jordan

+5

Jordan's Tamatem acquires Istanbul's Playable Factory, discloses $10M funding round

Apr 24, 2026

•

2 min read

Jordan's Tamatem acquires Istanbul's Playable Factory, discloses $10M funding round

The acquisition integrates ad tech into what was previously a content, distribution and payments business, moving Tamatem toward controlling the full stack from game localisation through to player acquisition and monetisation.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Food Delivery

+3

Uber raises Delivery Hero stake to 7% as questions mount over the German group's Gulf food delivery empire

Apr 24, 2026

•

2 min read

Uber raises Delivery Hero stake to 7% as questions mount over the German group's Gulf food delivery empire

The transaction takes Prosus's stake from 26.3% to 21.8%, but the company must reach single digits by August 2026, meaning substantially more Delivery Hero stock will need to find buyers in the coming months.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Public Markets

+3

Cerebras refiles for IPO at $23B valuation after clearing G42 security review, but 86% of its revenue still comes from Abu Dhabi

Apr 24, 2026

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2 min read

Cerebras refiles for IPO at $23B valuation after clearing G42 security review, but 86% of its revenue still comes from Abu Dhabi

The AI chipmaker whose first IPO attempt stalled in late 2024 amid a US national security review, filed a fresh S-1 with the SEC on 17 April targeting a Nasdaq listing at approximately $23 billion.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

News

+3

Speedinvest launches flagship Middle East and Africa fund backed by Mubadala, QIA and EIB Global

Apr 20, 2026

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2 min read

Speedinvest launches flagship Middle East and Africa fund backed by Mubadala, QIA and EIB Global

The fund is led by partners Deepali Nangia and Rana Abdel Latif and will invest across fintech, embedded finance, health, climate, AI, consumer and digital infrastructure in markets spanning MENAPT and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Startups

+3

Saudi grocery delivery platform Nana enters financial reorganisation after raising over $200M from Kingdom Holding, STV and others

Apr 20, 2026

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2 min read

Saudi grocery delivery platform Nana enters financial reorganisation after raising over $200M from Kingdom Holding, STV and others

The financial reorganisation comes as Saudi Arabia's delivery and quick commerce market has become one of the most competitive in the world.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Startups

+4

Egyptian cybersecurity startup Raspire joins Y Combinator with no-code runtime protection platform

Apr 17, 2026

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1 min read

Egyptian cybersecurity startup Raspire joins Y Combinator with no-code runtime protection platform

Raspire's platform allows engineering teams to add runtime protection to their applications without requiring complex integrations, specialised security teams or changes that slow down release cycles.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

News

+2

UAE's Homegrown Ventures closes $22.8m debut fund as MENA's first VC firm dedicated to consumer brands

Apr 17, 2026

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2 min read

UAE's Homegrown Ventures closes $22.8m debut fund as MENA's first VC firm dedicated to consumer brands

The fund is founded by Nader Amiri and Ahmad Shamieh, who between them have spent more than 30 years inside the CPG industry at Unilever, Coca-Cola, Kraft/Mondelez, Danone, Nokia and Microsoft.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

E-Commerce

+4

Saudi fashion startup Aya raises $7m Series A led by RAED Ventures as demand-driven abaya model draws PIF's Sanabil

Apr 16, 2026

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1 min read

Saudi fashion startup Aya raises $7m Series A led by RAED Ventures as demand-driven abaya model draws PIF's Sanabil

Aya was founded in 2024 by Munira Al Kadi (CEO) and Abdulrahman Al Ammar, who both previously worked together at Soum, the Saudi second-hand electronics and used goods marketplace.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Fintech

+3

Tabby secures UAE wallet licence, extending financial services push into its second core market

Apr 16, 2026

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1 min read

Tabby secures UAE wallet licence, extending financial services push into its second core market

The BNPL unicorn has cleared the regulatory hurdle to hold customer funds and roll out a broader suite of financial products in the Emirates, including spending accounts, cards, and money management tools.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Results

+3

Tamara's Saudi arm hits first full-year profit of $51.5M on 90% revenue growth

Apr 16, 2026

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2 min read

Tamara's Saudi arm hits first full-year profit of $51.5M on 90% revenue growth

The results mark a turning point for the Riyadh-headquartered BNPL unicorn, which is backed by PIF subsidiary Sanabil Investments, SNB Capital's fintech fund, and Checkout.com.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Startups

+5

Golden Gate Ventures backs $2B AI infrastructure firm Invisible Technologies as it targets GCC enterprise deployments

Apr 13, 2026

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4 min read

Golden Gate Ventures backs $2B AI infrastructure firm Invisible Technologies as it targets GCC enterprise deployments

Invisible, founded in 2015, claims to have trained data and models for more than 80% of the world's leading foundation model labs and counts Microsoft, AWS and Cohere among its enterprise clients.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Climatetech

+3

Egypt's Falak Startups exits used cooking oil startup Delta Oil at a 25.5x return

Apr 10, 2026

•

4 min read

Egypt's Falak Startups exits used cooking oil startup Delta Oil at a 25.5x return

The stake has been acquired by Den VC, a US-based venture capital firm operating in emerging markets including Africa and the Arab region, which has added Delta Oil to its active portfolio.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Climatetech

+4

Kingdom Holding acquires Prince Alwaleed's stake in Bill Gates' Breakthrough Energy Ventures at a 30% discount

Apr 10, 2026

•

4 min read

Kingdom Holding acquires Prince Alwaleed's stake in Bill Gates' Breakthrough Energy Ventures at a 30% discount

The stake's valuation has been relatively stable, recorded at $96.6 million in 2022, $91.4 million in 2023 and $98 million in the latest reporting period, placing Kingdom Holding's entry below all three marks.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Algeria

+4

Algerian founder Ines Boutemadja becomes the first Algerian woman in Y Combinator with AI insurance startup Klaimee

Apr 10, 2026

•

2 min read

Algerian founder Ines Boutemadja becomes the first Algerian woman in Y Combinator with AI insurance startup Klaimee

The company audits AI agents' architecture, processes and failure modes, then backs them with AI-specific liability coverage through a self-service platform aimed at startups deploying AI agents to enterprise clients.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Fintech

+3

Nubank to establish headquarters at ADGM as Latin America's largest digital bank eyes MENA expansion

Apr 8, 2026

•

4 min read

Nubank to establish headquarters at ADGM as Latin America's largest digital bank eyes MENA expansion

The ADGM base will be set up in collaboration with leading Abu Dhabi investment, economic and financial institutions, including integrated digital banking platform Wio Bank.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Fintech

+4

Egypt's Lucky raises $23m Series B to scale consumer credit and expand into North Africa

Apr 7, 2026

•

3 min read

Egypt's Lucky raises $23m Series B to scale consumer credit and expand into North Africa

The new capital will fund expansion of its credit product suite, entry into select North African markets and infrastructure investment.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

News

+2

Abu Dhabi's Lunate owns a stake in $90B venture firm Insight Partners, court filings reveal

Apr 6, 2026

•

4 min read

Abu Dhabi's Lunate owns a stake in $90B venture firm Insight Partners, court filings reveal

Lunate, which manages over $115B, is controlled by companies associated with Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE's national security advisor and brother to the president. Lunate is also a limited partner in multiple Insight funds.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Startups

+3

Tunisian co-founders Rihab Lajmi and Badis Zormati join Y Combinator with AI recruitment startup Asendia

Apr 2, 2026

•

3 min read

Tunisian co-founders Rihab Lajmi and Badis Zormati join Y Combinator with AI recruitment startup Asendia

The pair say they’re the first Tunisian founders to join YC, with Lajmi the first Tunisian woman to be accepted into the programme.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Public Markets

+7

SpaceX files confidentially for record IPO, with Gulf sovereign investors now on the cap table through xAI merger

Apr 2, 2026

•

5 min read

SpaceX files confidentially for record IPO, with Gulf sovereign investors now on the cap table through xAI merger

If it goes ahead at anything close to that scale, it would surpass Saudi Aramco's $29 billion IPO in 2019 as the largest public offering in history.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane
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