Happy Friday, friends 👋

We’re currently on vacation in Japan – and yes, this one’s running a little late. So I’ll let the edition speak for itself.

Enjoy the read! 👇

This week’s round-up is a 5 min read:

• 🧪 Valeo Health secures $12 million Series B to scale AI-personalised healthcare

• 📱UAE-based reverse logistics platform Cartlow acquired by Basatne 

• 💳 enza raises $6.75M Seed round to power local payment rails for banks & fintechs

• 📺 Warner Bros. invests $57 million in OSN+ for minority stake

• 🇦🇪 UAE Central Bank unveils new dirham symbol

🚀 Startup funding round-up

Valeo Health (🇦🇪 UAE), a personalised, data-driven healthcare platform, has raised $12 million in a Series B round led by Flintera, with participation from Nuwa Capital, FJ Labs, Oryx, Mindshift Capital, Oraseya, and Eirad.

enza (🇦🇪 UAE), a fintech company providing infrastructure that allow banks and fintechs to offer locally relevant capabilities, including cards, wallets, and real-time payments, has secured $6.75 million in a seed equity round co-led by Algebra Ventures and Quona Capital.

Nayla Finance (🇸🇦 KSA), a fintech company offering microfinance solutions to small businesses, has secured $4 million in Seed funding led by Sanabil Venture Studio by Stryber.

Lumi AI (🇦🇪 UAE), an AI startup enabling retail businesses to use generative AI to digitise supply chains through conversational analytics, has closed a $3.7 million Seed round led by AgFunder, with participation from Forum Ventures, ADQ, Qora71 syndicate, and angel investors.

COCA (🇦🇪 UAE), a non-custodial payments app that combines MPC security with a non-custodial debit card, has raised an undisclosed investment from the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) and FunFair Ventures

Armoir (🇦🇪 UAE), a premium D2C luggage brand inspired by French trunk heritage for Gen Z and Millennial consumers, has received an undisclosed pre-Seed investment from Plus VC.

Arabian Pay (🇸🇦 KSA), a fintech offering BNPL services for SMEs and startups, has received an undisclosed investment from Al Bassami Holding Group as part of its Pre-Seed round.

Premium deep-dive

MNT Halan: from ride-hailing to fintech unicorn ↗

CEO Mounir Nakhla on achieving fintech ecosystem lock-in, the company's acquisition and expansion strategy, why tailored risk models beat copy-paste approaches, and the potential path toward becoming a fully-fledged digital bank.

Funding

🧪 Valeo Health secures $12 million Series B to scale AI-personalised healthcare

🧪 UAE-based Valeo Health has raised $12 million in a Series B round to scale its personalised, AI-powered wellness platform across the GCC. The raise brings its total funding to $20 million since launch.

• The round was led by Flintera, with participation from Nuwa Capital, FJ Labs, Oryx, Mindshift Capital, and new backers Oraseya and Eirad.

Valeo was co-founded in 2021 by Sundeep Sahni, Nadine Karadag, and Ankur Majumder. Sahni is a third-time founder who previously co-founded Lazada and HelloPay – both acquired by Alibaba for $3 billion.

⏪ Background

The company was born from a simple but powerful insight: most people aren’t acutely sick – but they also don’t feel their best.

To fill this gap, the team launched a wellness platform that enables users to track key health data, order at-home blood tests, receive AI-guided insights, and connect with certified coaches.

As demand for proactive, preventative health services grows in the region, Valeo offers a more consumer-first alternative to traditional medical systems – one that fits into people’s homes and lifestyles.

❌ The size of the problem

Across MENA, most healthcare systems still focus on treating illness, not preventing it.

While telemedicine and diagnostics have improved, there’s a significant gap in ongoing health optimisation – especially for users looking to improve energy, sleep, mood, or nutrition.

At the same time, wellness services are often fragmented, unscientific, or unregulated. This makes it harder for users to take control of their long-term health in a structured way.

Valeo’s integrated approach – data + diagnostics + coaching – offers a clear value prop: evidence-backed care that goes beyond reactive medicine.

📖 What does the company do?

The platform offers:

• At-home testing for key biomarkers like hormones, vitamins, cholesterol, and food intolerances

• Longevity programs powered by AI and real-time data

• Certified health coaches to guide behaviour change

• Supplements and IV therapy delivered to your door

Its app provides users with tailored health plans, tracks longitudinal improvements, and uses AI to offer predictive insights.

The model is designed to empower everyday users – not just patients – with actionable, medically sound recommendations.

🔮 Outlook

Valeo has already gained traction in the UAE and KSA, and with the new backing it’s primed for broader GCC expansion.

• Its most relevant global peer? Think Levels (US) or Thriva (UK) – but localised for MENA’s health and cultural context.

🤝 Acquisitions

📱 Basatne, a Canada-HQ’d company focused on sustainable trade, has acquired UAE-based Cartlow, a reverse logistics platform offering returns management, trade-ins, and warranty services. Founded in 2019 by Mohammed Sleiman, Cartlow last raised $18 million in Series A funding from AlSulaiman Group back in 2022, and expanded across the UAE and KSA. The acquisition amount has not been disclosed. The deal gives Basatne a stronger foothold in the Middle East’s growing circular economy and e-waste management space, where Cartlow has already recycled over 1 million devices and reduced 100,000 metric tons of CO₂ emissions. Basatne also operates a refurbishment facility in the UAE, which it says is the region’s first AI- and robotics-driven solution for data wiping and diagnostics.

🍔 UAE-based Epik Foods has acquired 100% of Sauce Capital, adding 15 F&B brands – including Egg Bun, Sliced Pizza, Buwagyu, and Chic Flic – to its portfolio, which now totals 75 brands. The acquisition supports Epik’s expansion in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi, where Sauce already has a strong presence. Sauce Capital’s founding team will remain in place to lead the business post-acquisition. While the deal size wasn’t disclosed, it follows Epik’s $15.5 million raise from Ruya Partners last year to fund acquisitions, and comes just weeks after it acquired Dubai-based 1762 as part of a broader push to scale its 50+ location footprint.

📺 OSN+, the UAE-based streaming platform and subsidiary of OSN Group, has secured a $57 million investment from Warner Bros Discovery for an approximate 30% equity stake. The deal deepens an existing content partnership and will see both firms co-invest in locally produced content to capture a larger share of the MENA streaming market. It follows OSN Group’s recent $55 million investment in Lebanon-founded Anghami, signalling a broader push into digital entertainment across the region.

📈 Public markets

📡 Mubadala is reportedly considering selling its 10% stake in du, the UAE’s second-largest telecom operator, in a move that could boost du’s free float and eligibility for MSCI and FTSE emerging market indexes. Du’s current free float is 20%, below the threshold for index inclusion, but a sale – estimated at $1 billion – could unlock new demand from passive funds and enhance the stock’s valuation. The company, officially known as Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Co, saw profits surge 49% to AED 2.5 billion ($0.7B) in 2024, while its stock has gained 8.3% this year, outperforming the wider Dubai market.

💸 Fintech

🇦🇪 The UAE Central Bank has unveiled a new symbol for the Emirati Dirham, part of efforts to enhance the currency’s role in global financial transactions and advance the country’s digital transformation goals. The announcement coincides with progress on the Digital Dirham, a central bank digital currency (CBDC) expected to launch for retail use by late 2025. Backed by new federal legislation, the Digital Dirham will function as a fully legal means of payment across all channels. It will be supported by a secure platform and wallet enabling retail and wholesale transactions, cross-border transfers, and integration with financial institutions.

🚀 Crypto

🐼 Bitpanda, the European virtual assets platform, has secured a Virtual Asset Broker-Dealer License from Dubai’s VARA, allowing it to offer access to over 500 digital assets in the UAE—the most extensive offering of its kind locally. The approval, granted in record time, marks Bitpanda’s first major step outside Europe, where it already holds licenses from BaFin, the FCA, and other regulators. The company has opened a permanent office in Dubai’s DMCC Crypto Centre, positioning itself to serve both retail and institutional investors.

💸 Dubai-based startup studio Code & State has secured $3 million in funding to incubate ventures focused on real-world stablecoin use cases. Backed by Warburg Serres and KR1, the program will offer capital, infrastructure, and expert mentorship to UAE-based founders building in payments, remittances, compliance, and DeFi.

💰 VC React Podcast: Episode 29

🎧 This week on VC React, we dive into Impact46’s 10x exit from Rasan, debate MENA’s IPO flywheel, and explore why secondaries could be the region’s next big opportunity. Plus: NymCard’s $33M validation from QED Investors, and whether corporate VC can really deliver 20x returns.