Startups
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.
Fintech
+3
May 15, 2026
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2 min read
Tamara Q1 2026 revenue triples as Islamic financing line scales to 27% of revenue
The Riyadh-headquartered BNPL lender's loan book grew 33%, its Goldman/Citi/Apollo funding facility was upsized to SAR 5.8 billion, and accumulated losses flipped into positive retained earnings for the first time.
Fintech
+3
May 15, 2026
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3 min read
Tabby's Saudi unit Q1 profit growth lags 34% revenue rise as in-house build-out bites
The Riyadh-headquartered BNPL lender's loan book crossed $1 billion for the first time, but operating expenses jumped 73% and net debt remains above the SAMA-prescribed ceiling.
Startups
+4
May 15, 2026
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1 min read
Saudi-based Aumet raises $12M Series A led by Emkan Capital to scale AI procurement platform
The platform processes over $1B in GMV annually, connecting over 12,000 pharmacies across Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia with more than 1,000 pharmaceutical suppliers.
Startups
+4
May 15, 2026
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1 min read
TruKKer secures up to $300M facility from ADCB as digital freight network unlocks institutional bank financing
Founded in 2016 by Gaurav Biswas, TruKKer connects more than 60,000 transporters with over 1,200 enterprise clients across 40 countries.
Fintech
+4
May 15, 2026
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1 min read
Stream raises $5.2M seed extension led by BECO Capital, bringing total seed funding to $9.2M in under six months
The fintech company builds billing and payments infrastructure that consolidates invoicing, recurring payments, reconciliation and cash flow tracking into a single platform.
Fintech
+4
May 14, 2026
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1 min read
Saudi fintech Stitch raises $25M Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz in the firm's first GCC investment
The round brings Stitch's total funding to $35 million as the Riyadh-based financial infrastructure platform reports $5 billion transacted in the past six months.
