Happy Friday, friends 👋

You don’t see many cybersecurity exits in MENA. In fact, you barely see cybersecurity startups. So when one of the region’s few true deep tech players gets acquired – especially by a state-backed operator – it’s worth paying close attention.

SpiderSilk, founded in 2019, has long been punching above its weight – quietly building offensive-grade tooling out of Dubai. Now, six years in, it’s been folded into CPX, a G42 subsidiary. Might we see an uptick in deep tech exits coming via strategic absorption by national champions over the coming years?

One more thing – next Wednesday, we’re publishing a deep dive we’ve been quietly working on for months. It’s one of our most ambitious pieces yet, and if you’re building in MENA, it’s very much for you.

If you haven’t yet, sign up for a premium sub so you don’t miss it.

This week’s round-up is a 5 min read:

• 🛡️ UAE’s CPX acquires Wa’ed-backed spiderSilk to bring offensive cyber-AI in-house

• 🇸🇦 Nama Ventures becomes first foreign VC licensed by Saudi CMA

• 💸 Money Fellows raises $13M pre-Series C to scale digital ROSCA platform across North Africa

• 🎮 Turkey’s Dream Games hits $5B valuation in CVC-led deal, early VCs exit as founders retain control

🚀 Startup funding round-up

Money Fellows (🇪🇬 Egypt), a fintech digitising traditional savings circles (ROSCA), has raised $13 million in a strategic funding round co-led by Al Mada Ventures and DPI Venture Capital via the Nclude Fund, with participation from Partech, CommerzVentures, and others.

Nqoodlet (🇸🇦 KSA), a fintech building a financial operating system for SMEs, has raised $3 million in a Seed round led by Waad Investments, with participation from OmanTel, 500 Sanabil, Oqal, Seed Holding, and others.

iSUPPLY (🇪🇬 Egypt), a medtech digitising pharma supply chains, has secured $3 million in Sharia-compliant revenue-based financing from Bokra to support scale-up and expand access to underserved communities.

Canater (🇦🇪 UAE), a logistics and supply chain startup helping MENA manufacturers expand globally via AI-powered cross-border trade services, has raised $1 million from Foras in exchange for 10% equity.

Career 180 (🇪🇬 Egypt), an edtech platform offering practical skills training and job-matching via LMS, has raised a six-figure investment from Den VC to expand in Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Malta.

Konnect Networks (🇹🇳 Tunisia), a fintech offering seamless payment links and orchestration infrastructure, has secured an undisclosed investment from Attijariwafa Ventures alongside other global and regional backers.

Endocare (🇦🇪 UAE), a metabolic health clinic offering science-based obesity treatment and lifestyle care, has raised an undisclosed round led by RbetaQ Holding to expand in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Actly (🇰🇼 Kuwait), an AI customer experience platform built in-house at Zain Group, has raised strategic funding from ZAINIAC, Zain’s internal innovation platform, to support AI agent development and integration.

Premium deep-dive

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Exit

UAE’s CPX acquires Wa’ed-backed spiderSilk to bring offensive cyber-AI in-house

🛡️ UAE-based CPX has acquired spiderSilk, a Dubai-born cyber-AI startup known for simulating offensive cyberattacks to identify vulnerabilities in enterprise systems. The acquisition marks a major milestone for the region’s cybersecurity and deeptech landscape.

• Founded in 2019 by Rami El Malak and Mossab Hussein (a well-known white-hat hacker and former Careem PM), spiderSilk has built an autonomous threat intelligence and exposure management platform used by public and private entities across MENA.

Notably, investors — Global Ventures and Dara Holdings — will continue supporting CPX’s leadership in driving the company’s continued growth post-acquisition.

⏪ Background

spiderSilk began with vulnerability research that made global headlines – exposing flaws in platforms like WeWork and MoviePass.

That early work laid the foundation for a commercial platform: Resonance (exposure management), autonomous SOC agents, and a threat intel system powered by a global cyber knowledge graph.

• The company’s last raise was a $9 million Series A in 2023, led by Wa’ed Ventures. Previous backers included Global Ventures, Dara Holdings, and Magnus Olsson (Careem).

💸 VC

📈 Nama Ventures, co-founded by Mohammed Alzubi and chaired by HRH Sultan Bin Fahad Bin Salman Al Saud, has received Capital Market Authority (CMA) approval to operate as a fully licensed investment manager in Saudi Arabia—becoming one of the first foreign VC firms to do so under Saudi capital markets law. Originally Cayman-based, Nama has now localised its regulatory base to align with Vision 2030 and will launch Shariah-compliant funds targeting high-growth startups across Saudi, MENA, and select global markets. Recent investments by Nama include smart logistics startup PIESHIP, Egyptian freight forwarder Nowlun, and AI devtool company Brev.dev (recently acquired by NVIDIA).

🕹️ Animoca Brands, the $6B Hong Kong-based Web3 venture investor and gaming company, is opening its first Middle East office in Dubai with plans to launch both liquid and venture-style funds targeting UAE startups. Led regionally by Omar Elassar, Animoca aims to address gaps in early-stage financing, market access, and advisory for Web3 founders, while also collaborating with corporates and regulators on real-world blockchain use cases. With over 540 portfolio companies globally and a $50M partnership already in place with Saudi Arabia’s NEOM, the company is now doubling down on MENA expansion.

🌍 International investments

🤖 NEOM Investment Fund has announced a strategic partnership with US-based MemryX to advance energy-efficient edge AI infrastructure across its smart city ecosystem. MemryX’s MX3 AI accelerator technology enables low-latency, low-power processing for applications like cognitive video, smart industry, and autonomous systems – critical to NEOM’s vision of a decentralised, bandwidth-efficient digital environment.

🤝 New Entrants

🏢 Flipspaces, an Indian tech-enabled commercial interior design startup, has raised $35 million in a round led by Iron Pillar, with participation from Prudent Investment Managers and Synergy Capital. The company offers 3D visualisation, integrated supply chains, and turnkey project execution for SMEs – a segment that dominates the commercial build market. With this fresh capital, Flipspaces will accelerate expansion in the UAE, U.S., and India.

🌐 Singapore-based fintech XWeave has raised $3 million in a seed round led by Jungle Ventures, with backing from Lightshift, Menyala, White Star Capital, and DCG, to scale its stablecoin-powered cross-border payments platform. XWeave enables instant, non-custodial transfers between fiat systems and blockchain networks. Already active between Singapore and the Philippines, the startup is eyeing expansion into the UAE, Indonesia, Japan, and Hong Kong.

🤝 Exits

🎮 Istanbul-based Dream Games, creator of mobile hit Royal Match, has secured a strategic investment from CVC at a reported valuation nearing $5B – up from $2.75B in 2022. The deal sees early backers like Balderton and Index Ventures exit after five years, with CVC becoming the sole equity partner and the five Turkish co-founders retaining majority control.

Backed by over $2B in combined equity and debt financing (including from Blackstone), the move positions Dream Games to expand its “Royal Universe” following a breakout 2023 with $1.5B in revenue and the launch of Royal Kingdom. The deal marks one of the rare large-scale liquidity events in the mobile gaming sector amid a challenging exit environment.

💰 VC React Podcast: Episode 33

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🎧 This week on the VC React Podcast, we dig into four moves that speak to a maturing ecosystem — from a pre-IPO restructure and SME fintech, to infra for private markets and a rare outbound acquisition from the Gulf.

📆 Events and Opportunities

👩‍💻 Standard Chartered has launched the seventh cycle of its Women in Technology program in the UAE, offering up to AED 550,000 ($150K) in equity-free funding to selected women-led tech startups.

Run in partnership with C3 and Village Capital, the initiative provides tailored training, mentorship, and investor access as part of the bank’s global Future Makers campaign to tackle inequality and boost financial empowerment.

This year’s cycle aims to support 400 female entrepreneurs across the region, with over AED 2.2M ($600K) in total grants to be awarded. Apply Now.