1. Garbaliser (🇱🇧 Lebanon), an agritech that combats pollution by turning organic waste into liquid, eco-friendly fertiliser, has raised a $436,000 investment from Shark Tank Dubai for a 12% stake in the company.

2. HAD For Communications & IT (🇸🇦 KSA), an edtech that specialises in Arabic language learning, has closed a $5 million investment round led by Dar Al-Majidiya Investment.

⭐️ Say hello to Ahlan App! A Bahrain-based food delivery and customer loyalty platform that rewards its customers for their loyalty with cashback directly on the platform through its dine-in, pick-up, and home delivery services.

And, they've just secured $3 million in their first investment round!

• Launched in 2021 by Faisal Rashed, the startup has to date attracted over 1,400 vendors and served over 200,000 clients, rewarding them with more than $10 million in cashback credit.

💰 Investor lowdown: The round was led by Hope Ventures, along with Al Rajhi Holdings and other angel investors.

⚙️ Break it down

According to the platforms website, the cashback is at least 5% of the value of the order and can be used within two months, on any restaurant, or other shops available on Ahlan’s platform.

• For users, the app rewards customer loyalty by enabling them to save money by earning cashback credits.

• For restaurants and other merchants on the platform, Ahlan offers robust analytics and actionable insights, enhancing engagement, retention, and operational efficiency.

🔮 Flashforward

Ahlan App will use the fresh funding to increase its market share, expand its existing offerings and explore tech products that support the F&B industry, such as point-of-sale solutions and other B2B platforms.

In 2020, Ayman Bazaraa and Bassam Sharkawy wanted to address the tech talent gap in the MENA region, so, they founded Sprints.ai!

This Egypt-based AI-powered platform is aiming to prepare skilled talent for the job market through personalised learning journeys and guaranteed hiring programs. 

And they’ve just secured a $3 million bridge round!

💰 Investor lowdown: The round was led  by Disruptech Ventures, with contributions from EdVentures and CFYE, alongside other investors. 

🤔 Why? 

By 2025, there will be over 85 million unfilled tech jobs worldwide.

With many graduates lacking the skills needed by the tech industry, unemployment rates rise, posing challenges for job seekers and employers alike.

🛠️ Break it down

Sprints.ai is seeking to bridge this gap by operating as an end-to-end platform. 

For graduates? They offer talent assessment, personalised learning journeys, and a unique job guarantee, enabling graduates to pay only upon successful hiring over 3 years.

They empower learners with skills across various tech domains, including AI, data science, mobile, web, IoT, cloud computing, and cybersecurity. 

For companies? They offer solutions to ensure a smooth hiring process. 

• 🔍 Source: Access an exceptional tech talent pool to transform businesses.

• 🤝 Hire: Acquire elite remote teams for scaling operations.

• 🚀 Upskill: Future-proof businesses by investing in employee development.

🔢 Show me the numbers

• Over 2.5 million learning hours delivered

• Collaborations with over 300 tech employers worldwide - Amazon, Microsoft and more!

• Average program rating of 4.8

• Conducted over 52,000 learning experiences

🔮 Flashforward:

Sprints.ai will use the fresh funding to expand into 10 new markets, aiming to empower over 200,000 learners with essential skills and achieve the milestone of educating more than 10 million learners within the next decade.

🇹🇳 ANAVA, a fund of funds managed by Smart Capital, has invested $4.3 million in Janngo Capital Startup Fund (JCSF), to invest in francophone African startups and female-founded businesses.

🇸🇦 Saudi media giant MBC Group bought a 13.7% stake in Anghami, the Middle East's largest music streaming platform. MBC Ventures acquired 4,074,533 ordinary shares, with the total investment estimated at $7 million based on Anghami's share price at the time of the transaction.

🇦🇪 Shorooq Partners led an $11 million investment round for MANTRA, the Layer 1 blockchain for Real World Assets (RWA). The funding aims to support MANTRA's mission of scalable RWA tokenisation, with a focus on regulatory-compliant infrastructure and RWA-focused tools on the MANTRA Chain.

• Slash. Leaked document shows Amazon expects to save $1.3 billion by slashing office vacancies and terminating leases early

• Bigger, better, faster, stronger. Inside the creation of the world’s most powerful open source AI model

• AI race. Amazon spends $2.75 billion on AI startup Anthropic in its largest venture investment yet

• Bias. Uber Eats courier’s fight against AI bias shows justice under UK law is hard won

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