🗞️ Weekly round-up🗞️ Weekly round-up
Egypt’s $105M fintech fund pivots

Egypt’s $105M fintech fund pivots

Seesaw acquires Jordan’s Little Thinking Minds to deepen Arabic edtech push across MENA, BKN301 raises $23.8M to target UAE & Saudi expansion, Careem launches grocery delivery in Riyadh, plus this week’s MENA startup, VC, and tech news round-up.

Jamie Lane, +1
📰 News📰 News
AWS and Manara to train 2,500 MENA engineers in cloud and AI with $3.6M upskilling push

AWS and Manara to train 2,500 MENA engineers in cloud and AI with $3.6M upskilling push

The programme follows AWS’s broader regional commitment, including a $5.3B investment in Saudi Arabia.

Jamie Lane
📰 News📰 News
Mantra’s OM token crashes 90% days after unveiling $108M ecosystem fund

Mantra’s OM token crashes 90% days after unveiling $108M ecosystem fund

The move comes just as Egypt’s Rabbit announced its entry into Saudi, joining a crowded field that includes Jahez, Ninja, Nana, Hungerstation, and Keeta.

Jamie Lane
📰 News📰 News
Careem launches grocery delivery in Riyadh as quick commerce battle heats up in Saudi Arabia

Careem launches grocery delivery in Riyadh as quick commerce battle heats up in Saudi Arabia

The move comes just as Egypt’s Rabbit announced its entry into Saudi, joining a crowded field that includes Jahez, Ninja, Nana, Hungerstation, and Keeta.

Jamie Lane
📰 News📰 News
BKN301 raises $23.8M to target UAE & Saudi expansion as MENA BaaS race intensifies

BKN301 raises $23.8M to target UAE & Saudi expansion as MENA BaaS race intensifies

Founded by Stiven Muccioli, BKN301’s platform powers core banking, payments, and AI integrations, with €18.4M in revenue in 2024, marking 51% YoY growth.

Jamie Lane
📰 News📰 News
Seesaw acquires Jordan’s Little Thinking Minds to deepen Arabic edtech push across MENA

Seesaw acquires Jordan’s Little Thinking Minds to deepen Arabic edtech push across MENA

The acquisition marks Seesaw’s deeper push into the MENA market, pairing its AI-driven PreK–12 tools with LTM’s Arabic curricula ahead of launching its first Arabic-language platform in 2026.

Jamie Lane
📰 News📰 News
DPI takes over $105M Nclude fintech fund, launches VC arm to double-down on early-stage push in Egypt

DPI takes over $105M Nclude fintech fund, launches VC arm to double-down on early-stage push in Egypt

Initially launched as an $85M vehicle to accelerate financial inclusion in Egypt in 2022, Nclude has since grown to $105M and deployed $28M across startups including Paymob, Khazna, FlapKap, Mozare3, and Lucky.

Jamie Lane
🎙️ Interview🎙️ Interview
Trubuild’s blueprint to build better

Trubuild’s blueprint to build better

Trubuild’s CEO Bisrat Degefa on what makes construction tech such a tough sell, why most tools fail in the field, and what meaningful disruption actually looks like in one of the world’s most traditional industries.

Jamie Lane
🎙️ Interview🎙️ Interview
+1+1
Building a band-aid for cancer

Building a band-aid for cancer

Seven years, 959 rejections, and a circuitous journey from San Diego to New York to Abu Dhabi – Khatija Ali MD and BioSapien’s mission to deliver chemotherapy locally is as much about persistence as it is about innovation.

Jamie Lane, +1
🎧 Podcast🎧 Podcast
VC React Podcast (Episode #31)

VC React Podcast (Episode #31)

Exploring what it looks like when founders expand with intent — from cross-border B2B consolidation and fintech infrastructure built for Gulf markets, to Cairo-born chips powering AI data centres, and the next phase of online grocery competition in Saudi Arabia.

Jamie Lane
🗞️ Weekly round-up🗞️ Weekly round-up
The battle for Saudi quick commerce

The battle for Saudi quick commerce

Inside Rabbit’s Saudi expansion with CEO Ahmad Yousry, Saudi’s Sary and Bangladesh’s ShopUp merge to launch SILQ, a B2B commerce platform, with $110M in fresh funding, plus this week’s MENA startup, VC, and tech news round-up.

Jamie Lane, +1
🎙️ Interview🎙️ Interview
Inside Rabbit’s Saudi Expansion

Inside Rabbit’s Saudi Expansion

Rabbit’s CEO Ahmad Yousry on localising dark stores, rejecting discount wars, and why winning quick commerce in MENA is a supply chain challenge — not a marketing one.

Jamie Lane
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