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Happy Friday! We have a BIG announcement to make—we’ve started a podcast!

We've teamed up with Ahmad Takatkah to launch VC Reacts, a weekly podcast where leading VCs from the MENA region join us to reflect on and discuss the latest startup, VC, and tech news

Episode 1 is now live! In our inaugural outing, we were delighted to be joined by:

• Khaled Talhouni (Managing Partner at Nuwa Capital)

• Sara Ebeid (Senior Investment Associate at VentureSouq)

• Waleed Al Ballaa (General Partner at Sukna Ventures)

You can check it out below this week’s funding round-up, and let us know what you think!

P.S. If you missed our two-part series looking at how startups like Manara and TAP, are helping Palestinians secure tech jobs amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza - please make sure to check-it out here.

Today’s briefing is a 5 min read:

• 💳 Egypt-based Connect Money secures $8 million Seed round to enable non-bank businesses to offer embedded finance services

• 💸 Comfi secures a $5 million debt facility to accelerate the rollout of its embedded BNPL solution

• 🇸🇦 Riyadh-based insurtech startup Rasan becomes the second Saudi tech startup to go public

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🚀 Weekly funding round-up

Comfi (🇦🇪 UAE), a B2B payments platform enabling suppliers and wholesalers to offer risk-free credit terms and automate receivables, has raised a $5 million debt facility from an undisclosed Abu Dhabi-based private family office.

Sweply (🇸🇦 KSA), an adtech platform that leverages data analytics and machine learning to enhance ad performance, has raised $2 million in their first funding round led by Sanabil Investments 500 Global and Salla E-Commerce Platform.

Alsaree3 (🇮🇶 Iraq), a food delivery app offering restaurants a user-friendly platform that makes food ordering and delivery seamless and accessible, has raised a seven-figure Series A funding round, from investors including Iraq Venture Partners (IVP), Euphrates Ventures, and Snoonu.

Jeel (🇸🇦 KSA), an edutainment platform providing digital educational content for children, adolescents, parents, and educators, has secured a seven-figure seed round, led by Razem RZM Investment Company and a group of prominent angel investors.

Fintech

Egypt-based Connect Money secures $8 million Seed round to enable non-bank businesses to offer embedded finance services

💳 Say hello to Connect Money, an Egyptian BaaS platform focused on embedded finance services, helping businesses issue white-label debit and credit cards and enabling companies to offer a range of financial services to their customers.

And they just secured $8 million in seed funding!

• Founded in 2024 by Ayman Essawy (CEO), Wadi Jalil (CTO), and Abdelaziz Sarhan (COO).

• Essawy brings extensive experience, having co-founded LuckyOne, a consumer app for credit, deals, and cashback rewards, and playing a key role in launching DSquares, a loyalty platform set to IPO in Saudi Arabia.

💰 Investor lowdown: The round was led by DisrupTech Ventures, Algebra Ventures, and Lorax Capital Partners.

🏦 What’s the deal with BaaS?

In a nutshell, Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) allows non-bank businesses to offer digital banking services, like payments and lending, using APIs from licensed banks, saving them time, money, and effort by eliminating the need to build their own banking infrastructure or get regulatory approvals.

⚙️ Break it down

Connect Money uses a subscription-based model where businesses pay a monthly fee per card. This helps them avoid large upfront capital expenses (CapEx) and simplifies offering financial services.

Starting in Egypt, Connect Money plans to expand into Morocco and Kenya, which have growing fintech markets and high demand for digital financial services.

Connect Money's platform is super versatile and can work across many sectors.

For example:

• Agriculture: Supply chain companies can issue cards to farmers for easier payments and credit access.

• Businesses with Long Settlement Cycles: They can benefit from instant payments and disbursements, improving cash flow management

🔮 Flashforward

The fresh funding will enable Connect Money to launch five new business verticals in North African markets.

💰 VC round-up

🇲🇦🇪🇬 Paris-based VC firm Breega has launched a $75 million fund, Africa Seed I, to invest in early-stage startups across Africa, specifically mentioning Egypt and Morocco. Breega has secured commitments for about 70% of the capital in its first close. The firm supports startups from pre-seed to Series A stages and targets sectors like fintech, health tech, proptech, logistics, and edtech. Breega plans to invest $100,000 to $2 million in startups to tap into significant opportunities in these markets.

🇰🇷🇦🇪 Hashed Ventures, a South Korean VC firm, has partnered with Abu Dhabi’s Hub71 to explore investment opportunities in MENA's tech and crypto sectors. Managing $700 million in assets, Hashed aims to leverage Abu Dhabi’s strategic position and resources to scale its portfolio and attract South Korean tech startups to the UAE. This collaboration will provide Hashed with access to funding, mentorship, and market opportunities, with CEO Simon Seo-Joon Kim highlighting the UAE’s crypto-friendly regulations as a key factor for expansion.

🤖 Abu Dhabi-based family office Smpl Holdings has launched a $10-million fund, Smpl Fund I, to support tech and AI startups across MENA and beyond. This fund will provide seed capital and strategic services to promising startups. Mohammad Abu Sheikh, founding Partner of Smpl, highlights the UAE's position as a global hub for startups due to its progressive policies, tax-free environment, advanced infrastructure, and strategic location.

💰  Exits round-up

☂️ Riyadh-based insurtech startup Rasan made a notable debut on Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul exchange on June 13, becoming the second Saudi tech startup to go public after Jahez.

• Founded in 2016 by Moayad Alfallaj, Rasan operates Tameeni, Saudi Arabia’s largest online insurance aggregator, serving over 10 million users and facilitating insurance purchases worth $1.2 billion in 2022.

💰 Investor lowdown: Rasan raised $24 million in 2021 in a funding round led by Saudi VC Impact46's growth fund, marking the Kingdom's first growth-stage insurtech deal.

⚙️ Break it down

The IPO process, which began on May 5, was highly successful, being oversubscribed 129 times at SAR 37 per share, attracting $29 billion in orders and raising $224 million.

Rasan's shares surged 30% on the first day, closing at SAR 48.1, and are now trading around SAR 60, with a market cap of approximately $1.2 billion.

💻  Tech round-up

💾 Nvidia is partnering with Ooredoo to expand into the Middle East and North Africa, deploying AI technology in data centers across the region. Ooredoo will integrate Nvidia Tensor Core GPUs to provide advanced AI tools, including generative AI capabilities, supported by a $1 billion investment in data center expansion to drive digital innovation.

📆  Events and opportunities

🚀 BLDR Ventures is hosting a virtual panel on the Future of Work & Learning in MENA, exploring the opportunities and challenges of building in the region.

Guests include:

• 🌱 Dr Yousef Alhammadi, Executive Director at the Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority 

• 💻 Mounira Jamjoom, Co-Founder & CEO at Aanaab

• 💼 Ameer Sherif, Founder & Chairman at BasharSoft, and Co-Founder of WUZZUF

📅 8 July, 2024

🕒 4 - 5 PM KSA (GMT +3)

👦 The Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority (ECA) is inviting applications to the latest edition of the Anjal Z Techstars Founder Catalyst Program in partnership with Techstars. The initiative is tailored for startups focused on early childhood development, centring on families and children aged 0-8.

 📅 Deadline to apply: TODAY 28 June 2024

📰 What we’re reading

• Eden Rabbie. Why Startup Funding in MENA Grows While Funding Around the World Collapses?

• Alicia Sornson. Fueling MENA’s Future Through Entrepreneur Support Organizations