Hello and welcome back MENA founders!

Lots of cool news, major finding rounds, and interesting opportunities coming your way!

Fundraising Roulette

Longevity (UAE/Wellness) raised $4M round

ROR (UAE/FoodTech) secured AED 30M to expand across Europe

Lokalee (UAE/Traveltech) was acquired by Beaconsmind Group (Switzerland) for $12.8M

Motery (Kuwait/Autotech) completed a seed round at an $8M valuation

Aya (KSA/Fashiontech) secured $1.6M seed round

Impact46 (KSA) archived a 10x return on its exit from Rasan (KSA)

Aramco Ventures (KSA) invested in Ucaneo (Germany)

Oman Investment Authority invested in Tidal Vision (USA)

Scopely part of Savvy (KSA) to acquire Niantic for $3.5B

Main Headlines

Phoenix Venture Partners closed the first round of its investment fund

ADNOC awarded AIQ a $340M contract to implement ENERGYai

Mubadala (UAE) sold its stake in Calisen (UK) for $5.1B

UAE approved the National Investment Strategy 2031

Dubai World Trade Centre announced the launch of the Sports & Entertainment Free Zone

Binance raised $2B in stablecoins from MGX (UAE)

PIF launched Saudi Arabia’s first duty-free retailer

Visit Bahrain secured $125M in strategic agreements at ITB Berlin

Bahrain announced 23 new investment opportunities through its Government Land Investment Platform

Ecosystem Updates

Forbes Middle East unveiled its Fintech 50 2025 list

startAD and the U.S. Mission concluded the fifth edition of the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs UAE Program

Emirates NBD concluded the third cohort of its National Digital Incubator in the UAE

Alchemist Doha and Qatar Development Bank signed an MoU to support startups in Qatar

Fikratek Sharikatek (Egypt) supported over 130,000 beneficiaries through its entrepreneurship platform over the past years

The Central Bank of Egypt launched a new entrepreneurship support unit under the Riyada Nile Initiative

Queen Rania National Award for Entrepreneurship launched in Jordan

Morocco launched a Video Game Incubator program to support nine gaming startups

Orange launched its annual Social Venture Prize for Africa and the Middle East

Startup Highlights

TijarIA introduced Morocco’s first digital hub for foreign trade

Fawry (Egypt) partnered with Kuwait’s Ottu to enhance online payment ecosystem

Green Me (Egypt) won the Hitachi Global Competition for smart energy and green finance solutions

MisMar App (KSA) ranked #1 in the Saudi App Store

LikeCard (UAE) and Mastercard launched an AI-powered family banking solution in MENA

Five Saudi Startups joined the Unicorn Club with 35 others nearing the $1B valuation mark

10 North African startups to watch in 2025 highlighted by Tech in Africa

Open For Application

The Falafel Theory Innovation Program | Palestine

Elevate 2025 | Palestine

Business Development for Entrepreneurs | Jordan

NEOM 7 Senses Accelerator | KSA

Hub71 Launchpad Program | UAE

Dubai Land Department and REACH Accelerator | UAE

QSTP Incubation Program| Qatar

Core Istanbul Interior Design Hackathon | Turkey

Creativa Incubation Program | Egypt

Africa Tech Awards 2025 | Africa

TractionBoost Accelerator Program | Global

Techy Bytes

Saudi Arabia launched a Fatwa Robot in the Grand Mosque during Ramadan

Oman introduced an AI-powered drone for road maintenance

Tabuk University signed a pact to enhance AI learning and research in Saudi Arabia

UAE Students reported that 94% use AI tools for studying

Visa launched Tap-to-Add Card in Egypt and expanded Google Wallet support to Jordan

Volvo pulled an AI-generated ad in Saudi Arabia

China introduced the world’s first fully autonomous AI agent

OpenAI launched new tools to help businesses build AI agents