Hello MENA startup enthusiasts! With only two days left until 2025, here’s your final 2024 roundup of the region’s latest news, trends, and opportunities.

Let’s get started!

Fundraising Roulette

YNMO (KSA/Edtech) raised $5M round

EdVentures (Egypt) invested in Schoolz and Ibn Sina

Qatar Investment Authority invested in Affinity

Alpha Wave Incubation (UAE) invested in Groyyo (India)

Main Headlines

SVC invested in Jadwa GCC private equity fund 1

MSMEDA invested $3M in Foundation Ventures Fund

Dubai Finance introduced new certification for tax professionals

Riyadh Valley (KSA) invested in the Global Brain Fund GB9

Al Madinah Ventures launched a $10M fund in KSA

Oman to implement unified GCC customs tariff in January 2025

Alibaba launched operations in Morocco

Ecosystem Updates

Tamkeen (Bahrain) partnered with Pluralsight

MIT Arabia announced winners of Innovators Under 35 MENA

MBRF (UAE) concluded 12th edition of Bil Arabi initiative

Forbes Middle East honored female leaders at the Women’s Summit in Riyadh

Ten teams selected for the NBB Digital Banking Incubation program

Startup Highlights

Majd Payments (KSA) awarded a license to expand payment services in Saudi

CarbonSifr (UAE) partnered with Ajman Bank to transform sustainable finance

Nabat (UAE) partnered with Abu Dhabi to conserve and restore mangroves using AI

Maiwa (Bahrain) won the She’s Next program in Bahrain

Vero Labs by Lebanese billionaire Ayman Hariri, partnered with Avalanche

Open For Application

Flat6Labs Amman Seed Program | Jordan & Palestine

Palestine Launchpad with Google | Palestine

MENA Creatives Bootcamp 2025 | Dubai

Neom Seven Senses Accelerator | KSA

Tadamon Food Security Accelerator | Libya, Sudan, Palestine, Yemen

Deloitte Technology Fast 50 program | Middle East

Accelerate Africa Cohort 3 | Africa

OceanHub Acceleration Program | Africa

Visa Accelerator Program | Africa

Cool Events

• MEVCA Investors Summit | 30.12 Abu Dhabi

• 1 Billion Followers Summit | 11.01 Dubai

• Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) | 12.01 Abu Dhabi

• World Future Energy Summit | 14.01 Abu Dhabi

• Expanding to Saudi Arabia Webinar | 15.01 Virtual

• Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival | 01.02 Sharjah

• AI Everything Global | 04.02 Dubai

Techy Bytes

Technology Innovation Institute (UAE) launched advanced small AI models Falcon 3

Morocco launched e-Police digital portal to streamline police services

OpenAI to transition from non-profit to for-profit

Amazon unleashed 100+ new AI models

Telegram is now profitable