Archive

Calo closes $39M Series B extension, pushing total raise to $64M for global expansion and AI-powered personalisation

The Series B extension led by AlJazira Capital, brings the company's total Series B funding to $64 million, following an initial $25 million tranche in December 2024.

Jamie Lane

Jul 29, 2025

Podcast

VC React Podcast (Episode #45)

This week on VC React, we dig into Anthropic’s Dario Amodei’s Gulf money u-turn, size up Elon’s Saudi megacluster ambitions, ask whether QR‐pay darling Qlub can outrun copycats, and weigh up 500 Global’s new Abu-Dhabi-based $300 million “Sustainable Growth Fund”.

Jamie Lane

Jul 28, 2025

Jordan

Olivery raises Seed round to scale no-code delivery software across MENA

Founded in 2020 by Ram Merei, Malak Duraidi, and Obada Abdelkareem, Ramallah and Amman-based Olivery offers an end-to-end logistics SaaS platform that digitises delivery operations for couriers, e-commerce brands, and retailers.

Jamie Lane

Jul 28, 2025

Startups

Sawt raises $1M to build Arabic AI voice agents for call center automation

The round marks the first investment from STV’s newly launched AI fund and includes a strategic partnership with T2, giving Sawt access to enterprise customers and infrastructure support.

Jamie Lane

Jul 28, 2025

Fintech

Lean Technologies gains regulatory approval under UAE’s Open Finance Framework

Founded in 2019 by Hisham Al-Falih, Ashu Gupta, and Aditya Sarkar, Lean enables businesses such as Tabby, Talabat, and Careem to access user-permissioned financial data and initiate account-to-account payments.

Jamie Lane

Jul 28, 2025

Weekly round-up

Anthropic's Gulf flip-flop, 500 Global's Abu Dhabi expansion

500 Global launches $300M Sustainable Growth initiative, Qlub raises $30M Series B, foreign startups flock to Saudi Arabia as VC funding hits $860M in H1, plus this week’s MENA startup, VC, and tech news round-up.

Jamie Lane, +1

Jul 25, 2025

Saudi Arabia

Foreign startups flock to Saudi Arabia as VC funding hits $860M in H1

Foreign interest in Saudi’s startup ecosystem is surging, with the Ministry of Investment issuing 550 new Riyadi licences to non-Saudi startups in H1 2025 – a 118% year-over-year jump.

Zoe O Dwyer

Jul 24, 2025

Startups

Journify raises new round to double down on first-party data marketing across the Gulf

The company secures fresh backing from Shorooq Partners, Bunat Ventures and Plug and Play, in a deal that comes six months after its US $4 million round and pushes the company’s valuation to twice its February 2025 level.

Zoe O Dwyer

Jul 24, 2025

Fintech

Lime launches in Egypt with $9.4M investment to power education financing

Led by CEO and Managing Director Ahmed Mohsen, Lime is targeting a large and underserved market. Lime offers installment plans of up to 12 months for education expenses, with loan values of up to EGP 1 million and approvals granted within minutes through a fully digital onboarding journey.

Zoe O Dwyer

Jul 22, 2025

Fintech

Flend raises $3M to scale embedded SME lending in Egypt

Founded by Ahmed Zaki, Nehal Helmy, and Saif Edeen El Bendari, Flend is licensed by Egypt’s Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) as a Digital Non-Banking Financial Institution. The company offers short-term working capital loans to SMEs through a fully digital platform, streamlining everything from onboarding and credit scoring to disbursement and collections using digitally binding contracts.

Zoe O Dwyer

Jul 22, 2025

News

500 Global launches $300M Sustainable Growth initiative from new Abu Dhabi base

Leading the new practice is Dr. Alaa Murabit, a former executive at the Gates Foundation and one of the architects behind the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Zoe O Dwyer

Jul 22, 2025

Oman

ZabonEx raises $100K to improve food forecasting across Oman’s F&B sector

Founded in 2023 by Hatim Moosa and Almuhannad Al Balushi, ZabonEx delivers real-time, customer-level demand forecasts for F&B producers, distributors, and retailers. The goal is simple but pressing: help businesses reduce overproduction, cut waste, and better align inventory with actual consumption patterns.

Zoe O Dwyer

Jul 22, 2025

News

Qlub raises $30M to take UAE-born dining payments platform global

Founded in 2021 by Eyad Alkassar and Mahmoud Fouz, Qlub's new funding round, co-led by long-time backers Shorooq Partners and Cherry Ventures, also saw participation from telecom giant e&, sovereign investor Mubadala, and Legend Capital.

Zoe O Dwyer

Jul 22, 2025

Saudi Arabia

“Not thrilled about it”: Anthropic rethinks Gulf capital stance to fund AI growth

In a leaked internal memo, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei confirmed the company is exploring investment from the UAE and Qatar – a reversal from its 2024 stance on Gulf capital.

Jamie Lane

Jul 22, 2025

Podcast

VC React Podcast (Episode #44)

This week on VC React, we watch Arabic AI find late‐stage traction, see a Moroccan startup chase the “one‐app‐to‐rule‐them‐all” dream, get the inside scoop on Saudi’s first embedded‐insurance rails, and track a global talent tug‐of‐war that’s ripping startups out of their own cap tables.

Jamie Lane

Jul 19, 2025

Weekly round-up

Musk eyes Saudi servers, AI talent scramble

Meta acquires US-based PlayAI, founded by Egyptian engineer Mahmoud Felfel, Elon Musk’s xAI targets Saudi Arabia for its next wave of data centre expansion, Lucidya lands a $30M Series B, plus this week’s MENA startup, VC, and tech news round-up.

Jamie Lane, +1

Jul 18, 2025

News

A15 hits 10x DPI on Fund I, joining rarefied ranks of global VCs

Among those, two exits returned the entire fund: TPAY Mobile, acquired by Helios Investment Partners, and Connect Ads, sold to Aleph Group. A15’s most recent liquidity event came in early 2025 with the sale of Link Development to Beyon Solutions, a move that capped the fund’s return trajectory.

Jamie Lane

Jul 18, 2025

Saudi Arabia

Elon Musk’s xAI eyes Saudi Arabia for next wave of data centre expansion

The company is reportedly evaluating two distinct partners in the Kingdom. In both scenarios, xAI would lease rather than own the data centres, paying for compute resources to power its AI models — including its chatbot Grok — as part of a broader strategy to scale infrastructure outside the United States.

Jamie Lane

Jul 18, 2025

Meta acquires PlayAI, the voice AI startup co-founded by Egyptian engineer Mahmoud Felfel

While financial terms were not disclosed, the acquisition comes just months after PlayAI raised $21 million in seed funding from Kindred Ventures, 500 Global, Y Combinator, and others.

Jamie Lane

Jul 18, 2025

Interview

Building the GCC's first embedded insurance platform

Yasmina’s CEO Masoud Alhelou on why insurance might be the next great fintech unlock in the region, what it takes to get regulatory approval in Saudi, how the team landed 12 distribution deals without a single salesperson.

Jamie Lane

Jul 17, 2025

Fintech

Tabby's tightrope: inside the numbers

Unpacking Tabby’s Q1 2025 numbers in Saudi Arabia – profit surge, credit‐loss drag, break‐neck revenue growth, and the leverage‐heavy funding stack behind the Middle East’s most valuable VC‐backed fintech company.

Jamie Lane

Jul 17, 2025