1. Huspy (🇦🇪 UAE), a super-app for real estate that streamlines the home buying process from property search to financing and beyond, has raised an undisclosed investment round led by Balderton Capital, with further participation from existing investor Fifth Wall, amongst other investors.

   

2. OneOrder (🇪🇬 Egypt), a logistics startup that offers the F&B industry a supply of quality goods with embedded financing, has raised $16 million in a Series A round in a mix of equity and debt, led by Delivery Hero Ventures, with participation from Norrsken22 and existing investors, Nclude and A15.

3. BIRD NEST (🇪🇬 Egypt), a proptech offering furnishing and rental management solutions, has closed an undisclosed pre-Series A funding round for a 20% stake in the company, led by investors including Beltone Venture Capital and CI Venture Capital.

4. Plain Tiger (🇦🇪 UAE), a B2B marketplace that connects hotels with eco-friendly suppliers, saving them time, money, and reducing their environmental impact, has raised an undisclosed investment from AngelSpark, an angel investor syndicate based in Dubai.

5. Reno (🇦🇪 UAE), a startup removing the friction in renovations by helping plan, design, track, and finance projects in one app, has also secured an undisclosed investment from Dubai-based angel investing syndicate, Angel Spark.

6. Fincart (🇪🇬 Egypt), a fintech which specialises in streamlining shipping and financing for social sellers, SMEs, and e-commerce brands, has raised an investment from Plug and Play Middle-East.

7. Sorbet (🇸🇦 KSA), a Web3 platform offering zero-transaction fee workflows, smart contract milestones, instant payments in fiat or crypto, has raised a strategic investment from Adaverse, Saudi's first web3 fund.

🎁 Say hello to Merit, a Saudi-based startup providing gift, reward and engagement strategies, including gift cards, e-cards, merchandise, employee/customer rewards and online white label gift registry solutions.

And, they just secured a $12 million pre-Series B in an oversubscribed round, surpassing its initial target of $5 million.

• Founded by Julie Barbier-Leblan in 2016, the company relocated its headquarters from Dubai to Riyadh last year, and claims to have over 6,000 retail and service partners from more than 100 countries, offering rewards and incentives across various industries and categories, including hospitality, retail, travel, health, and more.

💰 Investor lowdown: The round was led by Alistithmar Capital i-Cap, the investment arm of Saudi Investment Bank, and saw participation from returning investors such as Tech Invest Com and Hambro Perks Oryx Fund.

• SAIB's funding into Merit is the first investment of the newly launched SAIB Venture Studio, established to leverage SAIB's capabilities to launch new initiatives in technology and financial technologies for customers.

⚙️ Break it down

Merit's flagship product is a customisable, white-labeled loyalty and rewards marketplace for enterprises. Businesses can tailor the platform to their brand, allowing customers and employees to purchase rewards using points or cash.

The startup also offers:

• Rewardsby, a SaaS platform that lets businesses access, buy, and send rewards to customers or employees for a monthly fee. Besides the cost of the reward, Rewardsby charges a 3% processing fee.

• GiftCardsBy, a platform for online and offline businesses to sell custom-designed gift cards. It allows businesses to set up a gift card website to boost revenue. GiftCardsBy is available for a monthly fee starting at $25.

• GiftiGlobal, offering over 4,000 online gift cards. Users can buy gift cards for themselves or others, with options in the UAE including Ikea, Danube, Al Nahdi Pharmacy, Noon, Talabat, and Anghami.

📈 How it’s going

In 2023, Merit claims it achieved over 60% cumulative growth, an 80% increase in its user base, launched more than 100 instances in 20 new countries, and distributed over a million rewards in Saudi Arabia.

🔮 Flashforward

Building on this success, Merit aims to triple its reach in the Saudi market in 2024. The fresh funding will be used to develop its technology to enhance customer engagement.

🚀 Abu Dhabi-based VC Shorooq Partners has reached the initial close of its second private credit fund ($100 million) with backing from regional and Korean investors. The fund was launched with a subsidiary of IMM Investment Corp, a $6 billion Korean private equity and venture capital firm. Both firms have previously collaborated on Shorooq’s first tech-focused private credit fund, which has invested in agri-tech startup Pure Harvest Smart Farms and Saudi BNPL fintech Tamara.

🇸🇦🇯🇵 BIM Ventures and Japan's SBI Holdings, in collaboration with Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Investment, announced a $100 million joint investment fund to support emerging companies in the Saudi market. The agreement, made during the Saudi-Japanese Vision 2030 Business Forum in Tokyo, aims to strengthen economic ties and provide financial and logistical support to innovative startups, fostering sustainable growth and attracting foreign investments.

🧱 Databricks, backed by Qatar Investment Authority, has launched a second VC fund to support startups in generative AI and machine learning. Following a $500 million raise, this fund aims to foster AI innovation. Databricks' recent strategic moves include acquiring MosaicML for $1.3 billion and closing a Series I funding round with investors like AWS, Microsoft, and QIA.

🇪🇬 Egypt-based Cash for Microfinance, a subsidiary of Beltone Holding, has partnered with Microfinanza Italia to launch a $2.4 million project supporting Egyptian entrepreneurs. Founded in 2020 and acquired by Beltone in September 2023, Cash offers micro-finance solutions in Upper Egypt. The partnership aims to enhance startup and small business success through better access to capital. Microfinanza Italia specialises in global finance consulting.

⛓️ The Hashgraph Association (THA) and the Qatar Financial Centre have launched a $50 million Digital Assets Venture Studio to support DeFi solutions on the Hedera DLT network. Announced at the Qatar Economic Forum, the studio will run from 2024 to 2028, investing in Web3 startups. The Hedera Governing Council will contribute $10 million. The initiative will help companies create regulatory-compliant financial products and tokenize assets.

🤖 Saudi Arabia has signed a deal with IBM to enhance the kingdom’s generative AI capabilities. The Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) announced that its Arabic language AI model, ALLaM, will be trained on IBM’s platform to run more efficiently and understand multiple Arabic dialects. The partnership aims to broaden the availability of Arabic large language models (LLMs) and foster responsible AI development by providing governance frameworks for using Arabic generative AI.

🖥️ Saudi Arabia will deploy its first quantum computer in late 2025 through an agreement between Saudi Aramco and French company Pasqal. Pasqal will install and operate a 200-qubit quantum computer, enhancing Aramco's predictive modeling, field analysis, and carbon capture efficiency.

🤝 liwwa, a Jordan-based peer-to-peer (P2P) lending network, has secured a $5 million loan from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC). This funding will help liwwa finance more under-banked Jordanian SMEs across various sectors. Founded in 2013 by Ahmed Moor and Samer Atiani, and led by CEO Dennis Ardis since 2021, liwwa connects investors and small businesses through smart loans.

• Marginal. Musings on margins, the case of B2B marketplaces

• Jordan. Kickstarting VC in a small ecosystem

• MENA VCs and LPs. How DFIs and sovereigns can collaborate

• Games as a tool for learning. The Endless Power of Games

• Tom Blomfield. Taking Risk

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