Hello once again MENA entrepreneurs!

Get ready for another exciting roundup of the latest and greatest in the MENA startup ecosystem.

Let’s dive in!

This Week's Funding Recap:

• Boston Oncology Arabia (KSA) secured $35 million

• United Al Saqer Group (UAE) invested $200 million into DNEG

• Aramco acquired 10% stake in UK’s Horse Powertrain

• BitOasis (UAE/Crypto) was acquired by CoinDCX

• El Kheta (Egypt/EdTech) received $400,000 from EdVentures

• WakeCap (KSA) acquired Crews by Core

• Foundation Ventures (Egypt) invested $500,000 in OpenFi

Key Ecosystem Updates

• Manouba University (Tunisia) celebrated becoming the first entrepreneurial university in MENA

• Egyptian companies signed $43bn deals with the EU

• AUC Venture Lab unveiled the Spring'24 cohort

• Flat6Labs kicked off cycle 2 of the women’s health accelerator

• Jordanian Ministry of Digital Economy launched the Entrepreneurship Ambassadors Competition

• Central Bank of Egypt initiated the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative

• Alterra Climate Fund (UAE) preparing for new round of investments

• Alpha Data (UAE) planning a $200 Million IPO in Abu Dhabi

Startup Highlights

• Educatly (Egypt/Edtech) named most promising EdTech startup of 2024

• Bybit (UAE/Crypto) won Innovative Collaborations award at MENA Business Awards 2024

• EXITS MENA (Egypt/Fintech) partnered with Saudi investors to expand to Saudi Arabia

• WellPal (Egypt/E-commerce) expanded to Saudi

• Maly (UAE/Fintech) launched MalyGPT

• Lyvely (UAE/Social Network) achieved full operational license

Upcoming Programs & Opportunities

• MBRIF's Innovation Accelerator Cohort 9 - UAE

• AUC Venture Lab Startup Accelerator Fall'24 - Egypt

• BLDR’s Pre-Seed Launchpad - MENA

• Visa FinTech Accelerator Program - Africa

• IF Social Impact Prize - Global

• Future of Capitalism Competition - Global

Must Attend Events This Week

• Startup Legal Essentials: Navigating the Path to Success - 08 July, Virtual

• Social Economy Leadership Workshop - 09 July, Istanbul

• du Business AI advantage series: the future of entrepreneurship - 10 July, Dubai

• Business Breakfast: Sharjah’s Spotlight on Global Sustainable Technology - 10 July, Sharjah

• How to Launch Your MVP with No-Code: A Bubble Workshop - 10 July, Virtual

• Expanding to Saudi Arabia: Breaking Down Costs - 11 July, Virtual

• Building and Leading High-Performing Startup Teams - 13 July, Manama

Interesting Stuff

• Saudi Arabia opens bids for the first Coffee City

• Fourteen Saudi football clubs for sale in new FDI drive

• MENA region is becoming a hotspot for cloud kitchens and FoodTech startups

• Meet the top five female entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia

• Explore the dynamics of GenAI and Industry 4.0 in logistics

• Report: Oman’s growing startup ecosystem

Techy Bytes

• The UN united for a human-centered AI initiative

• AWS launched a $50M initiative to accelerate GenAI in the public sector

• OpenAI introduced CriticGPT

• Meta plans to incorporate generative AI into metaverse games

• Google Cloud announced the opening of a new office in Kuwait

• Telegram will enable creators to share paid content on channels

• YouTube released an eraser tool for copyrighted music