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Startups

Startups

+4

Qureos raises $5m seed round to cut hiring timelines from months to days

Feb 4, 2026

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3 min read

Qureos raises $5m seed round to cut hiring timelines from months to days

The round was led by Prosus Ventures and Salica Oryx Fund, with participation from Oraseya Capital, Plus VC, F6 Ventures, BDev Ventures, Sunny Side Venture Partners, and existing investors COTU Ventures and Globivest.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Fintech

+4

PayLater secures $10M seed in one of Qatar’s largest early-stage fintech rounds

Jan 29, 2026

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2 min read

PayLater secures $10M seed in one of Qatar’s largest early-stage fintech rounds

The round was led by LuLu Alternative Investments, with strategic participation from Qatar Development Bank and KBN Holding, alongside a group of angel investors.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Morocco

+4

Yakeey raises $15M in Morocco’s largest proptech Series A to date

Jan 28, 2026

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3 min read

Yakeey raises $15M in Morocco’s largest proptech Series A to date

The round was backed by Enza Capital, alongside the International Finance Corporation, Egypt’s Beltone Venture Capital, and Morocco’s state-backed CDG Invest.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Startups

+4

Property Finder secures $170M in new funding led by Mubadala and BECO Capital

Jan 27, 2026

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4 min read

Property Finder secures $170M in new funding led by Mubadala and BECO Capital

The round follows $525 million invested in 2025 by funds advised by Permira, with significant participation from Blackstone Growth.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Startups

+4

Dubai-based Mantas raises $1.77M Seed to tackle cloud downtime risk with parametric insurance

Jan 27, 2026

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2 min read

Dubai-based Mantas raises $1.77M Seed to tackle cloud downtime risk with parametric insurance

The round includes participation from Nuwa Capital, Suhail Ventures, Plus VC, OQAL Angel Syndicate, and a group of angel investors.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Fintech

+4

Vennre raises $9.6M pre-Series A to expand private market access in Saudi Arabia

Jan 26, 2026

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2 min read

Vennre raises $9.6M pre-Series A to expand private market access in Saudi Arabia

Backed by Vision Ventures and anb seed Fund, the wealth creation platform targets the region’s HENRY segment with curated private equity, real estate, and Sharia-compliant investment access.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Jordan

+5

Jordanian edtech Abwaab acquires Apex to scale elite college admissions across the Middle East

Jan 26, 2026

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2 min read

Jordanian edtech Abwaab acquires Apex to scale elite college admissions across the Middle East

The deal adds Oxford, Ivy League, and top US admissions expertise to Abwaab’s growing education ecosystem.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Startups

+5

Applied AI raises pre-Series B from Mubadala and Arbor Ventures to scale enterprise workflow platform

Jan 22, 2026

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3 min read

Applied AI raises pre-Series B from Mubadala and Arbor Ventures to scale enterprise workflow platform

The investment comes just months after Applied AI raised a $55 million Series A at a reported $300 million pre-money valuation in February 2025.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Jordan

+4

Breez AI raises $1.3M pre-seed to build enterprise grade voice AI infrastructure

Jan 22, 2026

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4 min read

Breez AI raises $1.3M pre-seed to build enterprise grade voice AI infrastructure

The round was led by Wamda Capital and anchored by early supporter FENA Holdings alongside DASH Ventures, with participation from a group of strategic angel investors.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Agritech

+4

Grove raises $5M seed to build vertically integrated fresh-produce supply chain in Saudi Arabia

Jan 21, 2026

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4 min read

Grove raises $5M seed to build vertically integrated fresh-produce supply chain in Saudi Arabia

Founded in 2024 by Mohammed bin Ghanam and Ayman AlFifi, Grove operates as a consumer-facing fresh-produce brand built on a vertically coordinated, technology-enabled supply chain

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Fintech

+4

Flooss secures $22M Shorooq-backed credit facility in Bahrain’s first private asset-backed fintech financing

Jan 16, 2026

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2 min read

Flooss secures $22M Shorooq-backed credit facility in Bahrain’s first private asset-backed fintech financing

The credit facility builds on Flooss’s earlier equity funding. In its 2025 end-of-year letter, MEVP revealed it participated in a $2 million seed round for Flooss during the year.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Startups

+3

Arabic.AI partners with Amjad Masad’s Replit to launch free, fully localised Arabic coding courses across MENA

Jan 15, 2026

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3 min read

Arabic.AI partners with Amjad Masad’s Replit to launch free, fully localised Arabic coding courses across MENA

The initiative marks the first full localisation of Replit’s educational content into Arabic, giving students, engineers, and aspiring developers access to hands-on, production-ready software development courses without language barriers.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Startups

+3

MENA tech predictions for 2026

Jan 14, 2026

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19 min read

MENA tech predictions for 2026

Why the IPO dam is finally about to break, the rise of "agentic" AI in the boring back-office, and why the Gulf’s next sovereign race could be all about longevity.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Startups

+4

Governata raises $4M seed to build Saudi Arabia’s first Arabic-first, AI-ready data governance platform

Jan 14, 2026

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2 min read

Governata raises $4M seed to build Saudi Arabia’s first Arabic-first, AI-ready data governance platform

The round was led by Vision Ventures, with participation from Mashhoor Aldubayan, Mazen Aldarrab, and Abdulla Nadeem Elyas.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Startups

+4

Saudi-based Madeed raises $400K as Eight Sleep exit founder Adam Bataineh launches preventative health and longevity platform

Jan 13, 2026

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2 min read

Saudi-based Madeed raises $400K as Eight Sleep exit founder Adam Bataineh launches preventative health and longevity platform

The round was led by Vision Ventures, with participation from Mashhoor Aldubayan, Mazen Aldarrab, and Abdulla Nadeem Elyas.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Fintech

+5

Abdallah Abu-Sheikh’s Mal, raises $230M in largest Seed round in MENA for AI-powered Islamic finance platform

Jan 13, 2026

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3 min read

Abdallah Abu-Sheikh’s Mal, raises $230M in largest Seed round in MENA for AI-powered Islamic finance platform

The round was led by BlueFive Capital, which manages more than $4 billion in assets, with participation from strategic investors and family offices.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Startups

+3

MEVP’s annual letter discloses a number of unannounced funding rounds, including for Stake, Ziina, and MealPlanet

Jan 9, 2026

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2 min read

MEVP’s annual letter discloses a number of unannounced funding rounds, including for Stake, Ziina, and MealPlanet

In 2025, MEVP deployed $18.1 million across eight new investments and two follow-on rounds.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Oman

+3

eMushrif raises $7.5M to scale school transport platform across the Gulf

Jan 9, 2026

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2 min read

eMushrif raises $7.5M to scale school transport platform across the Gulf

Led by Jasoor Ventures, the round backs eMushrif’s expansion into Saudi Arabia and the UAE, building on its traction across Oman and Kuwait where the platform now supports school transportation for more than 120k students in public and private schools.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Fintech

+3

Revolut continues UAE hiring spree, as it eyes acquisition of neobank FUPS in Turkey

Jan 9, 2026

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3 min read

Revolut continues UAE hiring spree, as it eyes acquisition of neobank FUPS in Turkey

The London-headquartered fintech is advertising new roles across compliance, risk, and senior commercial leadership, including a Head of Marketing and Growth.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

SaaS

+4

MilkStraw AI raises $2M seed round led by VentureSouq

Jan 5, 2026

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2 min read

MilkStraw AI raises $2M seed round led by VentureSouq

The UAE-focused startup, which automates cloud infrastructure cost management, also saw participation from Ibtikar Fund and M Capital. The company said the round was closed in approximately 45 days.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

SaaS

+4

Saudi retail software startup Rewaa secures $45M Series B to double down on AI

Dec 30, 2025

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3 min read

Saudi retail software startup Rewaa secures $45M Series B to double down on AI

The round was led by Wa’ed Ventures (the VC arm of Saudi Aramco), Sanabil Investments, and Unifonic Ventures.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Startups

+4

Egypt’s Nawah Scientific raises $23M Series A as it marks a decade in deeptech labs

Dec 19, 2025

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2 min read

Egypt’s Nawah Scientific raises $23M Series A as it marks a decade in deeptech labs

Founded in 2015 by Omar Shokry Saqr, Nawah operates a cloud lab model that allows researchers and companies to access advanced scientific and industrial testing services remotely.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Startups

+3

Egypt’s iVoiceUp raises funding led by A15 to scale AI-powered whistleblowing platform across MENA

Dec 17, 2025

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3 min read

Egypt’s iVoiceUp raises funding led by A15 to scale AI-powered whistleblowing platform across MENA

The Cairo-founded ethics and compliance startup will use the new capital to expand in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and roll out advanced AI-driven case management and anonymity features for enterprises.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Algeria

+3

Algerian traveltech VOLZ raises $5m Series A in country’s largest local-currency startup round

Dec 17, 2025

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3 min read

Algerian traveltech VOLZ raises $5m Series A in country’s largest local-currency startup round

The Algiers-based startup, which enables flight bookings in dinars via online payments or cash on delivery, plans to deepen its domestic footprint and expand across North and West Africa following a landmark raise led by Tell Group-backed investors.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane

Startups

+5

UAE proptech Byit Capital raises $1.1M to scale its agent-first brokerage model across the Gulf

Dec 9, 2025

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2 min read

UAE proptech Byit Capital raises $1.1M to scale its agent-first brokerage model across the Gulf

Backed by A15, Beltone Holding and angels, Byit plans rapid expansion into Saudi Arabia after growing its network to more than 40,000 freelance brokers.

Jamie Lane
Jamie Lane
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