🇦🇪 UAE
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia
🇪🇬 Egypt
🇯🇴 Jordan
🇶🇦 Qatar
🇧🇭 Bahrain
🇴🇲 Oman
🇮🇶 Iraq
🇹🇳 Tunisia
🇲🇦 Morocco
💰 Fintech
🤖 AI
🏠 Proptech
🛒 Quick commerce
🛵 Food delivery
🕹️ Gaming
💸 MENA VC Playbook
📘 MENA Founder Playbook
Saudi Arabia
+2
Nov 1, 2026
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1 min read
PIF retains majority ownership of the Saudi AI company as it targets three gigawatts of data-centre capacity by 2030.
Public Markets
+3
Oct 30, 2026
2 min read
The digital lending platform, backed by COTU Ventures and Chimera Ventures, has facilitated more than PKR110 billion in loans through partner banks.
Food Delivery
3 min read
The HungerStation market reached the milestone as regional transaction growth accelerated to 20.6%, with MENA accounting for almost a third of the group’s global GMV.
Results
4 min read
New accounts reveal a substantial gap between the price Uber paid to take control and the value assigned to etisalat’s remaining stake, alongside further losses at the Everything App.
News
Oct 29, 2026
Dubai Future District Fund anchors the vehicle, following earlier funds that backed Huspy, NymCard, Toters and Onfido.
Oct 28, 2026
The head of ventures is expected to leave next year to launch Noha, with backing from Mubadala Capital and a predominantly US investment mandate.
Oct 27, 2026
The Dubai-based startup, which raised more than $10 million before securing further funding last year to fuel an expansion to Saudi, reportedly plans to end its operations on November 11.
Oct 26, 2026
The new framework replaces a $100 million cap per fund with a $200 million ceiling across a manager’s funds. Existing venture firms have until March 2027 to comply.
Fintech
The fintech says it processes more than $1.5 billion in annualised payments as it expands beyond its digital wallet into a broader financial platform.
Oct 23, 2026
Shares ended their first three trading sessions about 2% above the offer price, after an EGP 7.84 billion share sale drew strong institutional and retail demand.
+6
The growth investor has deployed more than $3 billion in the Middle East and secured a $500 million commitment from QIA as it broadens its business beyond private equity.
Draft rules would require venture capital and private equity funds to give investors details of individual holdings and realised returns, alongside broader reforms to Saudi capital markets.
Startups
+4
Oct 20, 2026
Oraseya Capital and AMKM Family Office led the round for the Dubai-based company, whose customers span 11 countries.
Founded by former Tweeq colleagues, the fintech has backing from Standard Chartered’s SC Ventures and preliminary SAMA approval for an electronic money licence.
The company, which raised $60 million from AI71 and BlueFive Capital in June, is building a US commercial team to sell Arabic voice technology and robotics training data.
Oct 19, 2026
Phoenix Venture Partners led the second close of the UAE healthcare company’s ongoing $3 million pre-Series A, combining fresh funding with purchases of existing shares.
Oct 16, 2026
The US energy and infrastructure technology investor, which manages more than $1 billion across three funds, becomes the latest firm drawn to Qatar by the sovereign wealth fund.
Agritech
The produce distributor had raised $9 million in disclosed funding from investors including Al Mada Ventures, Algebra Ventures and FMO.
Oct 12, 2026
The Abu Dhabi manager has seven companies in its first fund and plans to build a portfolio of 15 to 20, with 45% of committed capital still available for investment.
Oct 11, 2026
The government-backed investor can now commit up to $6 million per company and will target overseas businesses of strategic relevance to the UAE, alongside its early-stage investments.
SaaS
The company connects spare-parts retailers and repair shops with wholesalers, and has added instalment products covering both merchants’ stock purchases and their customers’ payments.
+5
Oct 9, 2026
The purchase preceded COFE’s $43 million pre-IPO round, with PVP founder Steve Khayat joining the board.
Oct 8, 2026
The oversubscribed fund counts Jordan’s ISSF and Careem founders among its backers, with Replit already in the portfolio and total assets under management now above $850 million.
Oct 6, 2026
Founded by Prince Khalid Bin Bader Al Saud, the Riyadh business is pairing technology partnerships with engineers embedded in customer operations, with training and defence divisions also planned.
Oct 5, 2026
The deal would transfer control of noon’s payments arm to the Arcapita- and DgPays-backed buyer as the wider e-commerce group pursues its public-market ambitions.
