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Happy Friday! Bitcoin has finally smashed through the much-anticipated $100k barrier following US president-elect Donald Trump's announcement of his intent to nominate pro-crypto former SEC commissioner Paul Atkins to lead the Wall Street regulator. Anyone else frantically digging through old files for their crypto wallet keys…

Enjoy this week’s edition 👇

This week’s round-up is a 5 min read:

• 🚢 Egypt-based online freight shipping platform Nowlun raises $1.7M Seed round

• 💄 Saudi’s Nice One sets IPO price range, targets over $1 billion valuation

• 📞 Saudi’s 2025 Budget includes funding for two new multi-billion-dollar tech firms

• 🇶🇦 Qatar and the UK announce a £1 billion climate tech partnership

• 🔈 Catch-up on Episode 20 of the VC React Podcast

In partnership with Convergence AI

🚀 Startup funding round-up

Aanaab (🇸🇦 KSA), an edtech platform offering K–12 teachers and educators courses, licensing, and qualifications primarily in Arabic to advance their professional development, has secured a $7 million Series A funding round from Dallah Investment Holding.

Playgama (🇦🇪 UAE), an HTML5 games portal simplifying monetisation for developers, has raised $3 million in a funding round led by The Open Platform and s16vc, with participation from FJ Labs, The Games Fund, TON Ventures, Velo Partners and Kirill Eves, CEO and Founder of Unlimit.

Enakl (🇲🇦 Morocco), an urban mobility startup providing sustainable, collective transport solutions for emerging markets, has raised $1.4 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Catalyst Fund, along with participation from Renew Capital, Digital Africa, Station F, and 15 business angels.

HUMD (🇦🇪 UAE), a printing, packaging, and gifting solutions platform, has secured an investment from Falak Investment Hub. Founded in 2022, HUMD previously raised $272k in a pre-seed round from angel investors.

Abikhdmh (🇸🇦 KSA), an e-transaction services app, has raised $800k in a seed funding round from undisclosed investors.

Fundraising

Egypt-based online freight shipping platform Nowlun raises $1.7M Seed round

🚢 Nowlun, an online freight forwarding platform allowing customers to compare between different services and rates, has raised $1.7 million in Seed funding.

• The company was founded in 2021 by Moataz Khamis, Mahmoud Khaled, and Ahmed Emara, Nowlun offers a system that allows users to manage and track shipments effectively.

💰 Investor lowdown: The round was led by Nama Ventures, A15, with participation from 500 MENA and several angel investors.

⚙️ Breaking it down

Nowlun enables businesses to instantly compare rates from 30+ shipping lines with transparent pricing and book shipments in three clicks.

Its platform offers real-time tracking, market rates for bulk shipping, competitive pricing, and efficient document and container management, ensuring a seamless logistics experience.

🐂 Bull case

1. The MENA’s region's logistics market is projected to reach $222.63 billion by 2029, growing at a CAGR of over 6.36% from 2024.

2. Investments like Egypt’s $6.6 billion maritime upgrades to double container capacity strengthen the region’s logistics backbone.

3. Strong traction in Saudi – always helps.

🔮 Flashforward

Nowlun will use the fresh funding to enhance its platform to provide real-time rates for sea-freight, streamlining the shipping process for its customers.

Premium insight

From a competitive standpoint, regionally, Zencargo, a British freight forwarding company, entered Dubai in 2022 under the UAE’s NextGenFDI program. Specialising in sea, air, and road freight, it’s raised $53.5 million and targeted revenues of about $241.7 million back in 2022. However, its current operational status in the UAE remains uncertain.

Globally, Flexport is the largest player in digital freight forwarding, with $2.7 billion in funding and an $8 billion valuation. Its extensive offerings span ocean, air, and road freight, supply chain optimisation, and advanced analytics. However, post-pandemic challenges—including significant layoffs, cash burn, and a costly acquisition—necessitated a recent cash injection from Shopify to stabilise operations and send some much needed positive market signals.

In our books, a more relevant comparison for Nowlun might be Nowports, the LATAM-based digital freight forwarder unicorn. Sharing Nowlun’s emerging market focus, Nowports has successfully expanded beyond sea freight to include air and ground logistics. Its subsequent innovations — such as inventory financing, factoring, and cargo insurance — could provide a compelling roadmap for the fledging Egyptian startup to pursue.

💰 VC & PE round-up

🇦🇪🇸🇦 SVC has invested in Aliph Fund I, a $250 million GCC-focused growth fund by UAE-based private equity manager Aliph Capital, founded in 2021 by Huda Al-Lawati. The fund targets mid-market companies in Saudi Arabia and the GCC, emphasising value creation and tech enablement. Soon after, Aliph Capital announced they had acquired a 25% stake in SANIPEX GROUP. The investment value in both cases remains undisclosed.

🇸🇦 Jada Fund of Funds has invested in Jadwa GCC Private Equity Fund I, managed by Jadwa Investment, a leading Shariah-compliant investment firm in the MENA region. The fund aims to raise SAR 1.5 billion, with a hard cap of SAR 2.0 billion, focusing on investments in GCC companies, particularly in Saudi Arabia. This marks Jadwa’s first regional blind pool fund, building on its track record of 16 single-asset funds since 2007.

🌍 Global investments round-up

🇶🇦🇬🇧 Qatar and the UK have announced a £1 billion climate tech partnership to drive clean energy innovation, create thousands of jobs, and strengthen economic ties. The agreement includes investments in energy efficiency, carbon management, and green power initiatives, with significant funding for Rolls-Royce to advance sustainable fuels and emissions reduction. It also establishes climate tech hubs in both nations and fosters collaboration on genomics and AI through initiatives like the Genomics Medicine Academy. This builds on Qatar’s €10 billion strategic partnership with France earlier this year.

📈 Public markets

💄 Nice One, Saudi Arabia’s leading beauty e-commerce platform, has announced its IPO price range of SAR 32–35 per share, aiming to raise up to $322 million at a valuation exceeding $1 billion. The offering includes 34.65 million shares (30% of capital), with cornerstone commitments from Masarrah Investment Company, Mohammed Abdulaziz Al Habib & Sons, and Frontier Investment Management for 4.33 million shares.

• Founded in 2017 by Omar and Abdulrahman AlOlayan, Nice One reported $186 million in revenue and $17.6 million in net profit for the first nine months of 2024, more than doubling year-on-year profit.

• Offering over 28,000 products from 1,200+ brands, the company plans to list on the Saudi Exchange’s Main Market, with EFG Hermes KSA and SNB Capital as advisors and underwriters.

 🤝 Acquisitions

🧳 An undisclosed regional investor has acquired Safr, an Iraqi travel solutions startup, and its app, Safrat, in a six-figure deal. Founded in Baghdad in 2020 by Ahmed Qasim, Safr quickly secured over 50 corporate contracts in its first year and entered the consumer market in 2023 with the launch of Safrat, supported by significant funding.

👩‍💻 Tech

🚕 Bolt, the unicorn ride-hailing platform operating globally in 600+ cities, officially launched in the UAE on December 2, aligning with Eid Al Etihad celebrations. Supporting Dubai’s goal to transition 80% of taxi trips to e-hailing, Bolt has partnered with Dubai Taxi Company to offer seamless ride booking, tracking, and payment via its app, with plans to expand into taxis and micro-mobility solutions.

💰 Saudi Arabia’s FY2025 Budget includes funding for two new multi-billion-dollar tech projects. Speculation remains around Project Transcendence, a potential $100 billion AI venture rumoured to launch in 2025. Other highlights include the launch of a Saudi-manufactured satellite on NASA’s Artemis 2 mission.

📉 Apple, HP, and Dell are losing market share in the Gulf as Lenovo emerges as the top desktop and laptop seller. In smartphones, Samsung continues to lead with 40.1% of GCC shipments in 2024, driven by its dominance in the ultra-premium segment, while sub-$100 budget friendly device brands like Xiaomi and Transsion are also thriving.

Premium insight

Check out this recent interview with Bolt Founder and CEO Markus Villig on the 20VC podcast with Harry Stebbings. It’s one of the best interviews I’ve come across in a long time, and you’ll find it hard not to find yourself rooting for the company by the end.

💰 VC React Podcast: Episode 20

🎧 This week, we explored Eyewa’s $100M Series C to expand its regional eyewear footprint, giftee’s $26.6M acquisition of YOUGotaGift (marking MEVP’s second exit of the year), and Saudi’s $81.5M gaming fund by Merak Capital, part of its Vision 2030 push.

We also discussed ISSF’s $5M backing of Vision Ventures’ $90M seed fund and the regional expansions of Watercycle Technologies and Locad with $5.6M and $9M raises. The big question: can MENA sustain this momentum and solidify its position as a global startup hub in 2025?