Happy Friday, friends 👋 

We've run out of time this morning for a clever remark or insightful commentary, so all that's left to say is…

Enjoy this week’s edition! 👇

This week’s round-up is a 5 min read:

• 🏦 Lean Technologies banks Series B extension funding from Takamol Ventures

• 📈 Saudi VC Impact46 announces 10x exit from Tadawul-listed Rasan

• 🏥 UAE’s Klaim raises $26 million Series A to accelerate insurance claim payouts for healthcare providers

• 💨 Aramco Ventures doubles down on direct air capture with investments in Spiritus and Ucaneo

• 🛎️ UAE-based travel tech startup Lokalee acquired for $12.8 million

🚀 Startup funding round-up

Lean Technologies (🇸🇦 KSA), an open banking platform that enables companies to access bank data and make payments, has secured an extension to its Series B funding round from Takamol Ventures. This investment is part of Takamol Ventures' new $53 million fund, following Lean’s initial $67.5 million Series B raise last November.

KLAIM (🇦🇪 UAE), a fintech that helps healthcare providers and insurance companies streamline the management of medical claims and accelerate their payments, has raised $10 million in a Series A equity funding round led by Mad’a Investments, with additional participation from CDG Invest. The company also secured $16 million through Tharawat Tuwaiq Financial Company.

Longevity Wellness Hub (🇦🇪 UAE), a wellness company offering alternative wellness solutions like hyperbaric oxygen therapy, red light therapy, and advanced quantum-based treatments, has raised $4 million from undisclosed investors.

ORA Technologies (🇲🇦 Morocco), a super-app offering P2P transactions, an e-commerce platform, on-demand services, chat functionality, social networking, and a digital wallet to be launched soon, has closed a $1.9 million Pre-Series A funding round led by Witamax & Azur Innovation Fund.

Aya (🇸🇦 KSA), an e-commerce platform for modest fashion, using real-time insights to forecast trends and optimise production, has raised $1.6 million in a seed funding round led by Khwarizmi Ventures, with participation from RAED Ventures, Joa Capital, FENA Holdings, Turki Alrajhi, and a group of angel investors.

Ajras (🇸🇦 KSA), a proptech offering rent financing solutions, including “Rent Now, Pay Later,” for commercial and industrial sectors, has raised $1.5 million in a pre-Series A funding round led by Veda Holding. Previously, Ajras closed a $28M seed round back in November 2023.

Motery (🇰🇼 Kuwait), an autotech company that simplifies the car-buying journey by offering an online platform with flexible financing solutions, has raised an undisclosed amount in a Seed funding round at an $8 million valuation.

Premium deep-dive

🇵🇸 Tapping into the potential of Palestinian youth ↗

TAP’s transformation from manual job placement to AI-driven talent acceleration, how it's sustaining financial viability without compromising impact, and the realities of scaling a company in the face of relentless adversity.

💰 VC

🌍 UAE-based Phoenix Venture Partners (PVP) has announced the second close of its $50 million Phoenix Venture Partners Innovation Fund (PVPIF), with backing from family offices and high-net-worth individuals. The fund targets early-stage startups in fintech, healthtech, edtech, agri-foodtech, sustainability, logistics, mobility, and consumer tech across MENA and select G20 economies. The second close, completed on February 19, 2025, brought in investors from France, Luxembourg, Mauritius, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia, including institutional investors. Founder & CEO Steve Khayat, along with Faris Al-Obaid and Dr. Mussaad M. Al-Razouki, lead PVP’s investment strategy.

💰Saudi VC Impact46 has successfully exited Rasan. The exit delivered a 10x return on Impact46’s 2021 investment, with Rasan’s equity appreciating over 91% since its 2024 listing. The offering included approximately 17.16% of Rasan’s issued share capital, priced at $18.40 per share, reflecting a 4% discount to the March 12, 2025, closing price. The total offering size reached $245 million, with strong demand leading to multiple times coverage. Impact46, led by Founding Partner & CEO Abdulaziz Alomran, continues its track record of high-growth tech investments, following successful exits in Jahez, Tamara, and Lendo.

🌍 Global investments

🧪 The Oman Investment Authority (OIA) has invested in Tidal Vision, a US biotech company specialising in bio-polymers, as part of its $140 million Series B. Tidal Vision’s Chitosan-based solutions offer eco-friendly alternatives for water treatment, agriculture, and material sciences, aligning with OIA’s focus on green technology investments.

💨 Spiritus, a US-based Direct Air Capture (DAC) company, has raised $30 million in a Series A round led by Aramco Ventures, with support from Khosla Ventures, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America, and TDK Ventures. The funding will accelerate key carbon capture projects, including a pilot plant in New Mexico and Orchard One in Wyoming, which aims to remove 2 million tons of CO₂ annually. Aramco Ventures' backing will also support global expansion, including deployment in Saudi Arabia to advance its carbon neutrality goals.

🌬️ Aramco Ventures has also invested in Ucaneo’s €6.75 million seed round, supporting its DAC technology. Ucaneo’s first industrial pilot, with a 30–50 ton CO₂ annual capacity, is among Germany’s largest DAC projects.

🤝 Acquisitions

🛎️ Swiss-based beaconsmind Group has acquired Dubai-based traveltech startup Lokalee for $12.8 million. Lokalee, founded in 2019 by Samir Abi Frem, provides hotels with digital guest experience platforms, serving 200+ brands across 20 countries, including Movenpick, Sheraton, Rotana, Sofitel, Hilton, and Millennium. Lokalee had previously raised $5.6 million in pre-Series A funding led by Crown Private Fund in January 2024, with participation from strategic hotel and tech investors.

👾 Scopely, a Saudi-owned gaming giant backed by Savvy Games Group (a subsidiary of PIF), has acquired Niantic’s gaming division, including Pokémon GO, Pikmin Bloom, and Monster Hunter Now, in a $3.5 billion deal. The acquisition adds 30 million monthly active users and over $1 billion in annual revenue to Scopely’s portfolio, further strengthening its global gaming presence. Niantic will rebrand as “Niantic Spatial” and shift focus to geospatial AI, while Scopely will retain Niantic’s game development team to drive future innovation.

📬 Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ has acquired a 58% stake in Aramex after completing a tender offer through its logistics unit Q Logistics, which purchased a 35.31% stake. ADQ previously held 22.69% via Abu Dhabi Ports Group, making it the majority shareholder. The offer, priced at $0.82 per share, reinforces ADQ’s expansion in logistics and transportation, with the final tendered shares announcement due March 28. Established in 2018, ADQ holds key Abu Dhabi assets, including Etihad Airways and Abu Dhabi Ports.

⚙️ Public markets

🦾 Dubai-based Micropolis Holding, a developer of autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), has raised $16 million in its NYSE American IPO (MCRP), pricing 3.9 million shares at $4 each, the lower end of the anticipated range. The offering included 1.1 million fewer shares than expected, bringing the company’s market value to $136 million. Specialising in AMRs, operating software, and electronic control units, Micropolis aims to scale its robotics solutions amid rising demand for automation. Network 1 Financial Securities acted as the sole bookrunner for the IPO.

⚙️ Tech

🤝 Binance has received a $2 billion investment from Abu Dhabi-based MGX, marking the largest-ever investment in a cryptocurrency company and the first institutional backing for Binance. MGX acquired a minority stake in Binance to advance the convergence of AI, blockchain, and digital finance. Binance has 1,000 employees in the UAE and operates under a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) license from Dubai’s VARA, allowing it to serve retail and institutional investors

🤖 AI

🤖 Abu Dhabi-based AIQ has secured a $340 million contract from ADNOC to deploy ENERGYai, the world’s first large-scale agentic AI solution for energy. Built on 70 years of proprietary data, the system will enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and cut process times from months to days. Developed with G42 Group and Microsoft, ENERGYai, will initially launch in five upstream assets by mid-2025, with plans to scale across thousands of wells and ADNOC’s 28+ producing fields.