Startups
Fintech
+4
Jul 17, 2026
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1 min read
Revolut wins in-principle approval from Dubai's VARA to offer crypto services in the UAE
The Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority approval covers broker-dealer, exchange, and management and investment services, and lands a month after Revolut completed its Central Bank licensing for payments, stacking a second regulatory pillar under a UAE launch that has yet to be given a date.
Startups
+3
Jul 10, 2026
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2 min read
Amazon brings 20-minute delivery to Egypt, opening a new front in the country's quick commerce race
Amazon Now has gone live in select areas of Cairo, Giza, Alexandria and the North Coast, making Egypt the third market in the region to get the service after the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
China
+4
Jul 10, 2026
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2 min read
Abu Dhabi's BlueFive co-leads $3B round for China's Kling AI, the largest raise ever for a video model company
The round values Kuaishou's spun-out video-generation unit at $18B ahead of a planned Hong Kong listing, and puts the Abu Dhabi asset manager alongside Tencent, CITIC Securities and CPE as the only Middle East-based name among the co-leads of a record Chinese AI financing.
Startups
+3
Jul 9, 2026
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1 min read
Keyper raises $11M Series A to expand monthly rent payments in the UAE
Led by Speedinvest with Mashreq's NeoVentures, Dubai Future District Fund, Property Finder and Arab National Bank participating, the platform has financed more than $44 million in rent since launch.
Agritech
+3
Jul 3, 2026
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1 min read
Maalexi raises $2.8M led by Saudi insurer Tawuniya as it builds a tokenised agricultural exchange
The oversubscribed round brings the Tadawul-listed insurer onto the cap table of the UAE agri-fintech alongside returning lead Global Ventures, as Maalexi positions for a Series A and layers a regulated real-world asset exchange on top of its trade-verification platform.
Fintech
+3
Jun 30, 2026
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2 min read
Tabby secures consumer and SME finance licences from SAMA, opening up larger purchases and working capital
The two SAMA licences let Tabby offer Saudi customers longer instalment plans of up to SAR 50,000 on bigger-ticket purchases alongside its existing four-payment product, and extend working capital to the retailers on its platform.
Startups
+3
Jun 30, 2026
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3 min read
1001 raises $30M Series A led by Lux Capital to build sovereign AI for Gulf critical infrastructure
Eight months after its $9 million seed, 1001 has more than tripled its raise, backing its pitch to build AI that helps operators run critical infrastructure like airports, ports and energy grids.
Oman
+4
Jun 23, 2026
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2 min read
Oman's Phaze Ventures backs Metal, the AI fundraising startup from Airlift founder Usman Gul
Metal sells software to help founders run the fundraising process, built by Usman Gul, whose previous company, the grocery-delivery startup Airlift, raised Pakistan's largest-ever round before collapsing in 2022.
Fintech
+3
Jun 19, 2026
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2 min read
Lean Technologies launches Pay by Bank suite on UAE Open Finance rails
Unveiled at the company's first hosted event in Dubai on 18 June, the suite groups account-to-account payments into deposits, collections, checkouts and a low-code payment links product, and arrives with Lean reporting more than 20 billion dirhams in payments processed to date.
Fintech
+4
Jun 18, 2026
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1 min read
Sovra raises $2M+ pre-seed led by Pharsalus Capital to build a self-custodial dollar account for MENA
The round drew angel cheques from the likes of Ramp founder Karim Atiyeh and Lean Technologies founder Hisham Al-Falih, backing a platform that holds user balances in USDC outside the conventional banking system.
Startups
+4
Jun 16, 2026
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1 min read
UAE's CNTXT AI closes $60M Series A co-led by AI71 and BlueFive Capital to scale sovereign AI infrastructure
The round is led in part by AI71, the Abu Dhabi applied-AI company that acquired founder Mohammad Abu Sheikh's previous venture and now returns as an investor, and lands weeks after CNTXT AI's acquisition of Gulf-dialect voice startup Actualize.
Fintech
+4
Jun 12, 2026
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2 min read
Egypt's Thndr receives initial approval for Saudi brokerage licence, targets Q1 2027 launch
The Saudi push comes as the EGX ranked Thndr the largest of its 120 brokerages by value traded in the first four months of 2026, with a 12.9% market share and $1 billion in assets under custody across its products.
Morocco
+3
Jun 11, 2026
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1 min read
Morocco's Agenz raises $5M seed co-led by Breega, Attijariwafa Ventures and Saviu to digitise property transactions
The oversubscribed round marks Paris-based Breega's first investment in Morocco and brings the corporate venture arm of North Africa's largest bank onto the cap table of a platform drawing more than 730,000 monthly visits.
Fintech
+3
Jun 11, 2026
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1 min read
Egypt's MNT-Halan hits $1.4B valuation as Al Ahly Capital leads new round, putting the National Bank of Egypt on the cap table
Founded in 2018 by Mounir Nakhla and Ahmed Mohsen, MNT-Halan offers consumer and business lending, payments, e-wallets, savings, investments and e-commerce services, all running on Neuron, its proprietary core banking software.
Startups
+3
Jun 5, 2026
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2 min read
Byju's founder faces Singapore jail sentence in QIA dispute as $22 billion edtech collapse deepens
The contempt finding relates to a $150 million loan provided by Qatar Holdings, a QIA subsidiary, to Byju's Investments, a Singapore-based entity of which Raveendran was personal guarantor.
Startups
+4
Jun 5, 2026
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1 min read
CNTXT AI acquires Actualize to power Arabic voice agents across the GCC
Actualize develops Arabic voice models built natively for Gulf dialects with a research team drawn from Google, Nokia and Siemens.
Startups
+4
Jun 2, 2026
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2 min read
Ex-talabat chief Tomaso Rodriguez to lead $250M autonomous delivery venture CargoX
The funding round, led by Abu Dhabi's BlueFive Capital, reunites Rodriguez with the delivery sector seven months after he stepped down as talabat chief executive, and follows BlueFive's record $230m seed into the Islamic digital bank Mal in January.
Foodtech
+2
May 27, 2026
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1 min read
Calo winds down UK operations 14 months after launch as meal platform refocuses on GCC markets
New orders will cease at the end of May, deliveries will continue through June and all outstanding customer credits will be refunded.
Startups
+4
May 20, 2026
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1 min read
RemotePass raises $17.4M Series B led by EBRD as global employment platform expands into Europe and the US
Founded in late 2020 by Kamal Reggad and Karim Nadi, RemotePass enables businesses to onboard, manage and pay employees and contractors in more than 150 countries.
Fintech
+3
May 18, 2026
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2 min read
Abu-Sheikh's Mal lands in-principle CBUAE banking approval months after record $230M Seed
The Abu Dhabi-based fintech, founded by former Astra Tech CEO Abdallah Abu-Sheikh, has cleared the first regulatory step required to launch a Sharia-compliant digital bank in the UAE.
Foodtech
+3
May 18, 2026
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1 min read
Dubai's Peekabox raises $1.5m Seed round to sell surplus food from major F&B brands
The company has signed partnerships with 20 brands whose combined UAE store network exceeds 1,000 locations, including Carrefour, Costa Coffee, Tim Hortons, Dunkin', Krispy Kreme, and Paul.
