1. 🇦🇪 UAE: Raiven Capital has invested in a new USD 125 million venture capital fund based in Dubai's DIFC, targeting AI, IoT, and ledger tech innovations in sectors like fintech, cybersecurity, and sustainability.

2. 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia: Riyadh Valley Company (RVC), King Saud University's investment wing, has invested in Flat6labs' Startup Seed Fund to boost early-stage Saudi startups in fintech, healthtech, edtech, and tourism.

3. 🇦🇪 UAE: Proptech startup Silkhaus has announced a UAE expansion with a market launch in Abu Dhabi imminent. They’ll partner with institutional investors in the emirate and provide Hub71 startups with special offers.

4. 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia: Flat6Labs has invested $250,000 in seed-stage funding for Darent, a proptech platform enhancing vacation rental experiences by seamlessly connecting hosts and travellers.

5. 🇦🇪 UAE: California startup Archer Aviation, which plans to launch electric air taxis in Dubai and Abu Dhabi by 2026, will debut its Midnight aircraft at the Dubai Airshow next week.

📊 Here’s MNT-Halan! The Egyptian fintech unicorn specialising in mobile payments and financial services for underbanked communities.

And, they just raised $130 million in funding through a securitisation deal.

• Co-founded by Mounir Nakhla and Ahmed Mohsen in 2018, the start-up has disbursed $2.5 billion in loans to date.

💰Investor low-down: The securitisation was done through local investment bank CI Capital.

• The start-up has raised over US$400 million so far this year, with $200 million coming from Abu Dhabi–based Chimera Investments

📱The unbanked

More than 70% of Egypt’s young and fast-growing population of over 100 million is financially underserved.

This is bizarre, especially considering mobile penetration exceeds 90%.

Traditional banks frequently sideline this demographic due to their perceived lower spending power or financial status.

🚀 Not on MNT-Halan’s watch

Initially started as a ride-hailing and delivery app (its since shut down its ride-hailing operations), MNT-Halan has developed into a super-app with various payment solutions for businesses and consumers across Egypt.

💼👥 As a business and consumer lender, its offerings include nano and microfinance, BNPL options, SME lending, payroll advances, and light-vehicle financing.

📲 Its digital payments ecosystem provides seamless loan handling, quick money transfers, virtual cards for shopping, bill payment services, ATM access, and salary advances through its digital wallet.

• On average, businesses secure loans around $1,000, incurring a 25% annual interest rate on the platform.

Due to the company’s focus on commerce and lending, it’s since decided to shut down its ride-hailing operations.

• Boasting over 1.5 million active users quarterly, MNT-Halan has served over seven million customers across Egypt.

🔮 Flashforward

The company plans to securitise a total of $550 million by the end of December, and will look to continue launching new digital financial products in Egypt and beyond.

🏢 Here's Ajras! The new name in Saudi real estate tech making commercial property leasing as smooth as desert sand.

And they just raised a $28 million seed round.

• Co-founded by Muath Aljubailan, Abdullah Al Qarni, Ahmed Al Tamimi, Suleiman Aljarbou, and Suhail Al Tamimi in 2022, the team have their sights set on redefining commercial property leasing. 

💰 Investor lowdown: With Madarek International leading the seed round, Ajras has secured a hefty $28 million in a mix of debt and equity capital.

• This comes hot on the heels of the $528,000 pre-seed they raised back in April.

🏗️ Tenancy tangle

There are 2 issues facing the commercial real estate sector at the moment: 

1. SMEs often struggle with high initial rent costs, which can limit their money-handling options and ability to get started.

2. Landlords often struggle to keep their properties rented out all the time. This is important for steady income but can be hard to achieve in a fluctuating market.

In the world of commercial real estate, it seems everyone's playing a high-stakes game of Monopoly, but nobody's passing 'Go' or collecting $200!

🛠️ The blueprint

Ajras makes leasing easier with a digital platform that reviews applications and helps lease spaces.

The result? Daunting annual rents are broken down into manageable monthly payments.

With this model, businesses don't have to pay all their rent upfront in one giant lump sum, and property owners can relax knowing their places stay rented out.

Crossing two 'Ts' with one stroke of the pen, right?!

🔮 Flashforward

The fresh capital will be used to enable Ajras to concentrate on its core offering, making the payment process for long-term commercial property rentals more efficient.

Tuesday’s poll: Which area of climatetech are you most excited about?

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🌞 Renewable Energy (e.g., wind, solar, geothermal) (50%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🌱 Food System Innovations (e.g., alternative proteins, vertical farming) (17%)

🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️ ♻️ Waste Management Technologies (e.g., advanced recycling processes) (33%)

👋 Message from the team

Thanks for reading!

We’ll see you all again next Tuesday. Have a question or any feedback? Just hit reply, or provide a rating below.

Was this forwarded to you? Sign up here.