Weekly round-up

Revolut nears UAE launch, Lean debuts Pay by Bank

Jun 19, 2026

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5 min read

Revolut nears UAE launch, Lean debuts Pay by Bank

Ninja lines up banks for Delivery Hero bid, UAE AI startup closes $60M Series A to scale sovereign AI infrastructure, Alaan launches AI-native business bank account, plus this week's MENA startup, VC, and tech news round-up

Jamie Lane

Weekly round-up

Ninja weighs Delivery Hero bid, Thndr eyes Saudi expansion

Jun 12, 2026

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6 min read

Ninja weighs Delivery Hero bid, Thndr eyes Saudi expansion

ex-Deliveroo Middle East head emerges from stealth with AI startup, Jordan's ISSF commits $7M to Endeavor Catalyst V, plus this week's MENA startup, VC, and tech news round-up

Jamie Lane

Weekly round-up

Uber takes back Careem, SVC names new CEO

Jun 5, 2026

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6 min read

Uber takes back Careem, SVC names new CEO

Two new $50M funds announced, ex-talabat chief to lead $250M autonomous delivery venture, Byju's founder faces Singapore jail sentence in QIA dispute, plus this week's MENA startup, VC, and tech news round-up

Jamie Lane

Weekly round-up

Calo winds down in UK, Uber closes in on Delivery Hero

May 29, 2026

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3 min read

Calo winds down in UK, Uber closes in on Delivery Hero

What a potential acquirer is actually buying inside Talabat and HungerStation, Uber increases its Delivery Hero stake to 37% at €12B valuation, plus this week's MENA startup, VC, and tech news round-up

Jamie Lane

Weekly round-up

Noon may cut staff 50%, Fresha is a unicorn

May 22, 2026

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6 min read

Noon may cut staff 50%, Fresha is a unicorn

A new $70M growth fund for Jordanian tech startups, Uber emerges as Delivery Hero's largest shareholder, RemotePass raises $17.4M Series B, plus this week's MENA startup, VC, and tech news round-up

Jamie Lane

Weekly round-up

May 15, 2026

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7 min read

a16z's first GCC bet, Breadfast layoffs

Tabby and Tamara's surprising Q1 2026 results, Qatar launches new $30M deep tech venture fund, Delivery Hero CEO to step down under activist pressure, plus this week's MENA startup, VC, and tech news round-up

Jamie Lane

Weekly round-up

Tech layoffs hit MENA, Careem pulls back

May 8, 2026

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5 min read

Tech layoffs hit MENA, Careem pulls back

Mubadala leads $15M Series A for UAE embedded finance startup, Moroccan founders raise $5.5M pre-Seed from Balderton, Lean expands Pay By Bank across UAE, plus this week's MENA startup, VC, and tech news round-up

Jamie Lane

Weekly round-up

MENA generates 60% of Delivery Hero's EBITDA, Talabat braces for Keeta in Egypt

May 1, 2026

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6 min read

MENA generates 60% of Delivery Hero's EBITDA, Talabat braces for Keeta in Egypt

Comfi raises $65M pre-Series A to scale B2B BNPL across MENA, Gulf sovereigns to own 38.5% of merged Paramount-WBD in close to $24B investment, plus this week's MENA startup, VC, and tech news round-up

Jamie Lane

Weekly round-up

$200M Saudi grocery darling Nana cracks, Speedinvest launches MEA fund

Apr 24, 2026

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6 min read

$200M Saudi grocery darling Nana cracks, Speedinvest launches MEA fund

Cerebras refiles for IPO at $23B with 86% of revenue still from Abu Dhabi, Uber raises Delivery Hero stake to 7% as questions mount over Gulf food delivery empire, plus this week's MENA startup, VC, and tech news round-up

Jamie Lane

Weekly round-up

Tamara turns a profit, Egypt's cybersecurity moment

Apr 17, 2026

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5 min read

Tamara turns a profit, Egypt's cybersecurity moment

Saudi fashion startup raises $7M Series A drawing PIF's Sanabil, Tabby expanding into spending accounts, cards, and money management tools in UAE, plus this week's MENA startup, VC, and tech news round-up.

Jamie Lane

Weekly round-up

Nubank setting up in Abu Dhabi, YC's first Algerian female founder

Apr 10, 2026

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13 min read

Nubank setting up in Abu Dhabi, YC's first Algerian female founder

Egypt's Lucky raises $23m Series B, Abu Dhabi owns a stake in $90B venture firm Insight Partners, Kingdom Holding acquires stake in Bill Gates' Breakthrough Energy Ventures, plus this week's MENA startup, VC, and tech news round-up.

Jamie Lane

Weekly round-up

Tabby profitable in Saudi, MGX co-leads OpenAI's $122B round

Apr 3, 2026

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14 min read

Tabby profitable in Saudi, MGX co-leads OpenAI's $122B round

SpaceX files for a record IPO with Gulf sovereigns on the cap table, Tunisian founders get into YC, Egyptian-American founder Will Ahmed's Whoop raises $575M at $10.1B, plus this week's MENA startup, VC, and tech news round-up.

Jamie Lane

Weekly round-up

Bezos pitches Gulf for $100B fund, Lean gets SAMA sign-off

Mar 27, 2026

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15 min read

Bezos pitches Gulf for $100B fund, Lean gets SAMA sign-off

Lebanese founder Tarek Mansour's Kalshi valued at $22B, Delivery Hero's strategic review raises questions for Talabat and HungerStation, Ninja still pursuing 2026 Tadawul IPO, plus this week’s MENA startup, VC, and tech news round-up.

Jamie Lane

Weekly round-up

Speedinvest launches new fund, Replit becomes Endeavor's 100th unicorn

Mar 20, 2026

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12 min read

Speedinvest launches new fund, Replit becomes Endeavor's 100th unicorn

Ramp's Karim Atiyeh acquires Billhop to expand into Europe, STV deploys in Africa for the first time with Kenyan startup MoPhones, Tether leads a $7.5M seed in Abu Dhabi, plus this week’s MENA startup, VC, and tech news round-up.

Jamie Lane

Weekly round-up

Amjad Masad becomes a billionaire, Shorooq joins $1.03B seed round

Mar 13, 2026

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12 min read

Amjad Masad becomes a billionaire, Shorooq joins $1.03B seed round

Jordanian-founded Replit triples valuation to $9B, inDrive acquires Pakistan's Krave Mart, Oman's SWF leads a $131.5M round in Uzbekistan fintech, plus this week’s MENA startup, VC, and tech news round-up.

Jamie Lane

Weekly round-up

Iran strikes knock out AWS, CBUAE grants emergency cloud waivers

Mar 6, 2026

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12 min read

Iran strikes knock out AWS, CBUAE grants emergency cloud waivers

How Sarwa and Abhi got their platforms back online, the UAE Central Bank grants emergency waivers for overseas data centres, TruDoc Healthcare secures $15M pre-Series B, plus this week’s MENA startup, VC, and tech news round-up.

Jamie Lane

Weekly round-up

Peak XV's $1.3B raise, Bosta lines up Egypt IPO

Feb 27, 2026

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12 min read

Peak XV's $1.3B raise, Bosta lines up Egypt IPO

Deliveroo exits Qatar, Presight-Shorooq Fund reveals first five investments from $100M AI fund, Brookfield acquires Wa'ed Ventures-backed Ori Industries, plus this week’s MENA startup, VC, and tech news round-up.

Jamie Lane

Weekly round-up

Breadfast's $50M round, Talabat shares down 54% from IPO

Feb 20, 2026

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13 min read

Breadfast's $50M round, Talabat shares down 54% from IPO

HUMAIN's $3B xAI bet becomes SpaceX shares, Stake raises oversubscribed $31M Series B, UAE startup AlgoDriven acquired in all-cash deal, plus this week’s MENA startup, VC, and tech news round-up.

Jamie Lane

Weekly round-up

A record Saudi Seed round, MGX and QIA bet big on Anthropic at $380B

Feb 13, 2026

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12 min read

A record Saudi Seed round, MGX and QIA bet big on Anthropic at $380B

Libyan-born founder Abdel Mahmoud's Anterior raises $40M, Smart Bricks raises $5M pre-seed led by a16z, UAE legaltech startup Clara acquired, plus this week’s MENA startup, VC, and tech news round-up.

Jamie Lane

Weekly round-up

Qatar's $3B venture push, Shorooq's $200M growth fund

Feb 6, 2026

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14 min read

Qatar's $3B venture push, Shorooq's $200M growth fund

Qatar's fund-of-funds backs five new global VC firms, UAE's Qureos raises $5m seed round to cut hiring timelines, plus this week’s MENA startup, VC, and tech news round-up.

Jamie Lane

Weekly round-up

TikTok’s US future is part-Abu Dhabi, Property Finder’s $170M mega-round

Jan 30, 2026

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14 min read

TikTok’s US future is part-Abu Dhabi, Property Finder’s $170M mega-round

Over $212M in MENA funding this week alone, UAE's Stargate project costs balloon to over $30 billion, cross-border M&A activity surges, plus this week’s MENA startup, VC, and tech news round-up.

Jamie Lane

Weekly round-up

Altman meets Abu Dhabi funds ahead of $50B raise, Mubadala backs Applied AI

Jan 23, 2026

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14 min read

Altman meets Abu Dhabi funds ahead of $50B raise, Mubadala backs Applied AI

Open raises $7M co-led by YC, G42 pitches foreign governments on digital embassies, QIA pumping the brakes on AI hype, plus this week’s MENA startup, VC, and tech news round-up.

Jamie Lane

Weekly round-up

MENA's biggest ever Seed round, Replit teams up with Arabic.AI

Jan 16, 2026

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14 min read

MENA's biggest ever Seed round, Replit teams up with Arabic.AI

Saudi's PIF considering a wave of share sales and IPOs, Lean and Ziina complete the UAE’s first live Open Finance payment, plus this week’s MENA startup, VC, and tech news round-up.

Jamie Lane

Weekly round-up

Revolut's hiring spree, Saudi opens its stock market

Jan 9, 2026

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14 min read

Revolut's hiring spree, Saudi opens its stock market

MEVP’s annual letter discloses unannounced funding rounds, Qatar Investment Authority and Abu Dhabi-based MGX anchor Musk's xAI $20B Series E, plus this week’s MENA startup, VC, and tech news round-up.

Jamie Lane

Weekly round-up

Noon moves toward IPO, Kalanick walks back Gulf dual-listing

Dec 19, 2025

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14 min read

Noon moves toward IPO, Kalanick walks back Gulf dual-listing

The Gulf's Hollywood gambit unravels, Egypt’s Nawah Scientific raises $23M Series A, Algerian traveltech VOLZ raises $5m Series A, plus this week’s MENA startup, VC, and tech news round-up.

Jamie Lane