VC React Podcast (Episode #34)

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This week on VC React, we look at two stories that hint at how exits are evolving in the region – from a cybersecurity acquisition that keeps the core team and tech intact, to a surprise IPO push from one of Silicon Valley’s most controversial founders, now looking east.

We start in cybersecurity, where Abu Dhabi-based CPX has acquired SpiderSilk, a Dubai-founded cyber-AI company known for its offensive-grade simulation tools and exposure platform, Resonance. Founded by Rami El Malak and Mossab Hussein – a white-hat researcher and former Careem PM — SpiderSilk has spent the last five years building a full-stack threat intel engine now used by governments and enterprises across the region. Backed by Wa’ed Ventures, Global Ventures, and Careem’s Magnus Olsson, SpiderSilk’s investors are staying on post-acquisition – a sign that this is a long-term integration play, not a soft landing. We dig into what CPX gets with this deal, how it shifts the region’s deeptech exit narrative, and what it means for AI infra founders deciding between global acquirers and regional champions.

Then – in a twist few saw coming – Travis Kalanick’s CloudKitchens is exploring an IPO for its Middle East unit, with Goldman Sachs already on the mandate. The company operates under the KitchenPark brand across the UAE, Saudi, and Kuwait, offering delivery logistics and kitchen infrastructure to restaurants. The IPO would mark one of the first ghost kitchen listings globally – and it’s happening here, not in the U.S. With PIF backing CloudKitchens since 2019, we unpack what this move says about MENA’s evolving public markets, and whether Gulf exchanges are becoming the new venue for late-stage U.S. tech with strong regional exposure.

This week, Ahmad and I were joined by:

• Arnav Danthi, Principal, @ Nuwa Capital

• Amira Swilam, Partner @ Den VC

• Mo Salah, Partner at @ Pitlane Ventures

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