Happy Friday! Acquisitions, exits and a World Cup. We could certainly get used to that.

P.S. If you missed our weekly deep-dive exploring whether MENA can become a world leader in the gaming industry, you can check it out here.

Today’s briefing is a 5 min read:

• 👷 Saudi-based contech Wakecap acquires Silicon Valley-based Crews by Core

• 🇰🇷🇦🇪 South Korean VC Hashed Ventures expands to Abu Dhabi

• 🕹️ Esports World Cup kicks-off in Riyadh with record-breaking $60 million prize pool

🚀 Weekly funding round-up

El Kheta (🇪🇬 Egypt), an edtech startup which allows students to create personalised study plans and tailor their curricula, has raised a $400,000 investment from EdVentures.

Contech

Saudi-based contech Wakecap acquires Silicon Valley-based Crews by Core

👷 WakeCap, a Saudi-based construction management and IoT platform, has acquired Silicon Valley-based Crews by Core, who are building a Trello equivalent for the global construction industry.

Founded in 2017 by Hassan Albalawi and Ishita Kochhar, WakeCap's product collects data through a knob that attaches to a standard hard hat worn by site workers and pipes data into an app for tracking hours, progress, and safety.

• They’re currently being used by crews on over 30 mega sites and "gigaprojects" in Saudi Arabia and the United States.

Crews by Core, was founded in 2019, by Di-Ann Eisnor, who previously led Waze as director of growth through their $1.3 billion acquisition by Google.

• Crews by Core had raised $11 million from investors, before exiting early in the interest of, according to Eisnor, scaling faster.

🏗️ Set the scene

Selling to the fragmented construction industry is tough, with many suppliers and subcontractors using different technologies.

This slows sales growth, making it hard for startups to generate revenue and attract venture capital.

The construction tech sector has fewer high-growth companies compared to other industries, with many stuck around $10 million in ARR due to decentralisation.

🤝 The deal

Earlier this year at the FIII Priority Summit in Riyadh, Eisnor met WakeCap's Albalawi.

They discovered their companies had complementary products and goals: Albalawi wanted to expand in the U.S., and Eisnor aimed to penetrate the Saudi market.

⚙️ Break it down

The acquisition is an all-stock deal, with Eisnor staying on as chief strategy officer and Crews by Core's CTO, Gene Gutnik, now leading tech for the combined company. 

🔮 Flashforward

WakeCap will open an R&D headquarters in Silicon Valley to strengthen its global contech position. 

💰 VC round-up

🇰🇷🇦🇪 Hashed Ventures, a Seoul-based crypto investment firm, has expanded its footprint to Abu Dhabi by partnering with Hub71, Abu Dhabi’s global tech ecosystem.

The partnership aims to introduce more Korean startups, especially in fintech and digital assets, to the UAE.

Hashed's CEO, Simon Kim, mentioned plans to open an office in Abu Dhabi and explore fundraising opportunities there.

Founded in 2017, Hashed manages around $700 million in assets and has offices globally, including San Francisco and Singapore.

💰  Exits round-up

🚀 BitOasis a leading crypto exchange in MENA, has been acquired by Indian counterpart CoinDCX.

CoinDCX had invested in BitOasis less than a year ago.

Details of the acquisition were not disclosed, but it seems that BitOasis investors will receive equity in CoinDCX and found the deal profitable.

• Founded in 2016 by Ola Doudin, Tarek Kaylani, and Daniel Robenek, BitOasis allows investors in MENA to trade over 60 cryptocurrencies with fiat currencies. The startup has processed over $6 billion in trading volume, with over 50% in the past 18 months.

💰 Investor lowdown: BitOasis has raised over $40 million in funding, including a $30 million Series B in late 2021, from investors like Wamda Capital, Jump Capital, Pantera Capital, and Global Founders Capital.

⚙️ Break it down

Started in 2018, CoinDCX is a leading Indian crypto exchange with over 15 million users, offering more than 500 crypto assets.

It had a quarterly trading volume of over $840 million in 2024. The acquisition of BitOasis aims to support CoinDCX’s international expansion into MENA. C

Co-founder Sumit Gupta estimates this move could add $30 to $50 million in annual revenue.

🔮 Flashforward

BitOasis’s brand and leadership will remain unchanged.

💻  Tech round-up

🎮 On Tuesday night, the much-anticipated Esports World Cup launched in Riyadh, featuring the largest prize pool in industry history at over $60 million. It will run for 8 weeks, with 1,500 elite players competing in 22 competitions across 21 leading games like League of Legends and Counter-Strike II. It’s all part of Saudi Arabia's National Gaming and Esports Strategy, launched in 2022, aims to create 39,000 jobs and contribute $13.3 billion to the nation's GDP by 2030.

📸 Digital Media Services (DMS) is partnering with Pinterest to expand digital advertising solutions across key MENA markets, including Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. Pinterest, with over half a billion global monthly active users, will help advertisers in these markets connect with their audiences using its performance advertising solutions.

📆  Events and opportunities

🇸🇦 500 Global is looking for the next generation of talented entrepreneurs in MENA join Batch 8 of the Sanabil 500 MENA Seed Accelerator Program.

• Tech startups with a Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

• Located in the Middle Eastern and North African Region (MENA)

• Startups with early traction looking to scale

🤖 Google’s Accelerator team is offering a 10-week, equity-free program for AI-first startups in MENA and Turkey, designed for Seed and Series A startups. Participants will access experts from Google Cloud and Google DeepMind through a mix of in-person and virtual activities, 1:1 mentoring, and group learning sessions. The program includes deep dives and workshops on product design, business growth, and leadership development.

📆 Applications are open until August 18, 2024.

📰 What we’re reading

• Timothy Papandreou. Rise Of The Robot Investors: Is AI About To Eat VC's Lunch?

• Arabian Business. Meet the CEO’s transforming the Middle East.