Welcome back to your essential update on what's buzzing in the MENA startup ecosystem! This week, we've lined up exciting technological advancements, must-attend events, and significant industry movements that are shaping the future.

Ready to explore?

Weekly Funding Roundup

• bluworks (Egypt) closes a $1 million pre-seed round

• Bokra (Egypt) raises $4.6 million pre-seed round

• Waffarha (Egypt) secures seven-figure seed round

• Shorages (UAE) raises $1 million pre-series A round

• WEE Marketplace (UAE) secures $10 million pre-series A round

• Bon Plus (Oman) closes seed round with Omantel and angel investors

In The News

• UAE-Oman: A $35B investment partnerships were established and a $180M tech fund was launched

• UAE commits $50M to its development fund

• TVM Capital Healthcare (UAE) invests $17M in Germany’s Neurocare

• Saudi fund agrees $67M deal to support Omani SMEs

• Aramco looking to invest in Indian early-stage startups

• Seedra Ventures and SWG launched a construction tech fund

• 10 Egyptian startups expand to Saudi Arabia with VMS

• TLcom Capital closes $154M early-stage fund focused on Africa

• AfriLabs and Emerge Green Africa partner to promote green development

Upcoming Programs & Opportunities

• Visa set to launch the 'VEI' program in the Levant region

• Startupbootcamp MENA launches the Fintech Solutions program

• Pishon Health launches a Healthtech accelerator in Africa

• Saudi’s PIF launches the Resident Entrepreneur program

• Jusoor launches the Disruptors project

• Compete in the Global Prompt Engineering Championship

• Apply to Berytech’s Startup10 Program

• Join Flat6Labs Women’s Health accelerator

Must-Attend Events

• Future Hospitality Summit - April 29, Riyadh

• Mobility Live Middle East - April 30, Abu Dhabi

• Capital Linkers By Endeavor Saudi- May 1, Riyadh

• Dubai Esports and Games Festival - May 1, Dubai

• Dubai Fintech Summit - May 6, Dubai

• AIM Congress - May 7, Abu Dhabi

• Emerge 2050 - May 8, Dubai

• Fintech Jordan Conference 2024 - May 8, Amman

• Startups Without Borders Summit - May 10, Cairo

Interesting Stuff

• Saudi Aramco becomes Fifa World Cup sponsor

• Saudi cinema sector nears $1bn in revenue

• Five MENA Climate Tech Startups making cities greener

• Dubai art dealer embraces NFTs for fractional art ownership

• Two Egyptian startups win the Underdog Entrepreneurs Awards

Techy Bytes

• Microsoft's new AI generates talking faces from photos and launches Phi-3 Mini

• Al Etihad Payments launches Open Finance in UAE

• Careem Pay launches Instant Money Transfer Service for UAE to the UK

• Stripe to start taking crypto payments

• Over 40 American entrepreneurs launch the Tech for Palestine initiative

• A Chinese company reveals a brain chip similar to Elon Musk's Neuralink

• WhatsApp unveils an event feature for community group chats

• Abu Dhabi signs deals to launch air taxi services in 2025