News
Startups
+4
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.
News
+2
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.
Fintech
+3
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.
Results
+3
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.
Startups
+5
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.
Algeria
+4
Apr 10, 2026
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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.
Fintech
+3
Apr 8, 2026
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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.
Fintech
+4
Apr 7, 2026
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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.
News
+2
Apr 6, 2026
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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.
Startups
+3
Apr 2, 2026
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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.
Funding
+3
Apr 2, 2026
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5 min read
Abu Dhabi's MGX co-leads as OpenAI closes $122B round at $852B valuation
The co-lead position represents a deepening of a relationship that began in October 2024, when MGX participated in OpenAI's $6.6 billion Series E.
Startups
+5
Mar 31, 2026
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4 min read
Egyptian-American founder Will Ahmed's Whoop raises $575m at $10.1bn valuation with QIA, Mubadala and 2PointZero all participating
Whoop now has over 2.5 million members globally, was cash flow positive in 2025 and doubled bookings year on year to a $1.1 billion run rate.
Results
+4
Mar 30, 2026
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3 min read
Exclusive: Tabby's Saudi arm posts $55 million profit on $378 million revenue in first audited annual accounts
The numbers land at a moment when Tabby is widely understood to be preparing for a Tadawul listing, with reports that HSBC, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley are advising on a potential flotation.
Startups
+4
Mar 26, 2026
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5 min read
Lebanese founder Tarek Mansour's Kalshi valued at $22B after latest $1B round
The round marks the third time in under a year that Kalshi's valuation has roughly doubled, from $5 billion earlier in 2025 to $11 billion in December to $22 billion now.
Sudan
+4
Mar 26, 2026
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4 min read
Scalvy, founded by Egyptian and Sudanese engineers, raises $13.9m Series A co-led by Silicon Badia to solve AI's power bottleneck
The company serves over 350 enterprise clients and has processed more than $2 billion in transaction volume across the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Fintech
+3
Mar 26, 2026
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5 min read
Lean Technologies becomes first fully licensed open banking provider in Saudi Arabia
The company serves over 350 enterprise clients and has processed more than $2 billion in transaction volume across the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
SWFs
+4
Mar 26, 2026
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5 min read
Jeff Bezos pitches Gulf sovereign wealth funds on $100B manufacturing automation fund
If it closes at that scale, the fund would rival SoftBank's $100 billion Vision Fund as the largest private investment vehicle ever assembled, and like the Vision Fund before it, its viability would depend heavily on Gulf sovereign capital.
Startups
+4
Mar 25, 2026
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3 min read
Saudi edtech GAGA raises $2.5m pre-Series A led by Abu Dhabi's Phoenix Venture Partners
The platform offers more than 1,000 live programmes across over 200 subjects, combining academic and skill-based learning through real-time teacher-student interaction.
Fintech
+3
Mar 24, 2026
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4 min read
AWS Bahrain region disrupted by drone activity for second time in three weeks
The incident comes just three weeks after drone strikes on March 1 directly hit two AWS facilities in the UAE and caused physical damage to infrastructure in Bahrain, triggering what became one of the most severe cloud outages in the region's history.
