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This week on VC React, we unpack Valu’s market debut in Cairo, dig into why Careem is pulling the plug on its ride-hailing business in Pakistan, break down AppliedAI’s $55M Series A, and debate whether OpenAI’s new productivity push spells the beginning of the end for SaaS as we know it.
We start in Egypt, where Valu’s direct listing on the EGX sent its share price soaring 850% on day one. But this wasn’t a typical IPO, there was no new capital raised, just existing shares floated to the market. We break down what actually happened with the 0.78 EGP reference price, why Amazon converted its option into a nearly 4% stake, and whether Egypt’s market can support further growth-stage fintechs going public.
Next, we turn to Careem, which announced it’s suspending its ride-hailing service in Pakistan after years of quietly losing ground to InDrive and Yango. We discuss why super app dreams keep crashing into market realities, and whether there’s still a path forward for the super app model in MENA.
Then we zoom in on AppliedAI, which says it’s building a ‘Large Work Model’ to automate complex workflows across healthcare, government, and finance. We dig into exactly what that means, why investors are piling in, and what a $55M Series A really signals in the region’s red-hot AI market.
Finally, we head to Silicon Valley, where OpenAI is reportedly developing native productivity tools that could kill Google Docs and Microsoft Office. We ask what happens to SaaS when the platform building your AI also starts replacing your product, and why Microsoft might be in the strangest power struggle in tech history.
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