Lean Technologies, MENA’s leading Financial Infrastructure provider, has partnered with Synapse Analytics, the region’s AI-native Risk Decisioning Platform, to launch an end-to-end Credit Decisioning and Analytics platform for lenders across Saudi, the UAE and the wider GCC. The Partnership At the heart of the partnership is a new decisioning stack that fuses Lean’s Open Banking data infrastructure with Synapse’s AI-native credit decisioning platform, enabling banks, fintechs, and lenders to: Instantly access and enrich real-time financial data as alternative credit signals. Combine bureau data with cashflow-based insights to underwrite new segments. Deploy Auto-AI/ML models alongside existing credit policies. Build, test, and…
Author: Mohamed Fathy
In a strategic move signaling its regional ambitions, Egyptian edtech startup Farid Academy has announced its expansion into Saudi Arabia, establishing a central operations office in Riyadh. The launch marks a pivotal step in the company’s plan to anchor its presence in key Arab markets, ahead of a forthcoming seed funding round slated for Q4 2025. The startup previously secured $250,000 in pre-seed funding last year. Founded in 2024 by entrepreneur Mahmoud Hussein, Farid Academy leverages his background in education and personal development to deliver innovative learning solutions aimed at enhancing children’s well-being and character growth. The platform is the…
HALA, Saudi Arabia’s leading fintech and provider of embedded financial services to micro, small and medium enterprises, has raised $157 million in a Series B investment round — officially one of the largest fintech Series B funding rounds in the Middle East. Investors The funding round is led by The Rise Fund, TPG’s multi-sector global impact investing strategy, and Sanabil Investments, a wholly owned company by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), with participation from QED, Raed Ventures, Impact 46, Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP), Isometry Capital, Arzan VC, BNVT Capital, Kaltaire Investments, Endeavor Catalyst, Nour Nouf Ventures, Khwarizmi Ventures, and…
Tactful AI, a leading provider of AI-powered customer experience solutions, announced today the appointment of Egyptian entrepreneur and investor Mohamed Aboulnaga Nagaty as both investor and strategic advisor to the company’s CEO. The move marks a pivotal step in Tactful AI’s ambition to scale its regional and global footprint and accelerate technological innovation across the Middle East. Success Stories Nagaty’s decision to join Tactful AI followed a close review of the company’s success stories with several businesses he knows personally. He cited the platform’s tangible impact on operational efficiency, digital sales growth, and unprecedented levels of customer satisfaction as key…
Property Finder, a leading property portal in the Middle East and North Africa, today announced a combined total investment of $525 million in the Company led by funds advised by Permira. Funds managed by Blackstone Growth are investing significant capital into the transaction. The combined investment represents a meaningful minority stake and reaffirms Property Finder’s position as a market leader and technology innovator in MENA’s fast-growing property classifieds market. The Transaction As part of the transaction, General Atlantic, which has been a cornerstone shareholder of Property Finder since 2018, has sold part of its stake while retaining a significant minority…
Shahbandr, the e-commerce enabler in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East and North Africa, has launched “Shahbandr AI”, the region’s first Generative AI Kit fully integrated into e-commerce stores. Shahbandr AI “Shahbandr AI” offers a diverse set of tools to empower store owners generate images, videos, audio, marketing copy, and content for products and search engines. The suite features a full, seamless Arabic interface and is available at no cost to stores using Shahbandr platform. The company aims to empower merchants to keep pace with global AI advancements without needing to subscribe to multiple platforms for ideas and growth-driving content.…
Intella, the market leader in dialectal Arabic speech intelligence, today announced it has closed $12.5 million in an oversubscribed Series A round led by Prosus, with participation from 500 Global, Wa’ed Ventures, Hala Ventures, Idrisi Ventures and HearstLab, the investment arm of Hearst Corporation. Intella’s Mission The funding will accelerate Intella’s mission to power a digital AI workforce across the Arabic-speaking world. With this new funding, Intella is doubling down on R&D, product expansion, and regional hiring to bring its vision to life. Founded in 2021 by CEO Nour Taher and CTO Omar Mansour, Intella has emerged as a clear…
Seraya, a Dubai-based proptech and hospitality startup, has secured $1.8 million in seed funding through a mix of equity and debt, bringing its total capital raised to $2.15 million. The round was led by a prominent Saudi family office and DLL, a German family office, with additional participation from strategic angel investors. Fully Serviced Apartments Founded in October 2024 by Pepijn Haima and Ibrahim Shami, Seraya offers design-led, fully serviced apartments for short-term stays, combining the consistency of a hotel with the warmth of a home. The company has been profitable since inception, operating with an average occupancy of 92%…
Munify (YC S25) has raised $3M in seed funding to build a cross-border neobank for Egyptians abroad. The startup, founded by former Microsoft and Uber engineer Khalid Ashmawy, gives migrants a faster, cheaper way to send money home while also offering residents access to U.S. banking. Khalid, who previously co-founded proptech unicorn Huspy, started Munify after years of frustration with slow, expensive wire transfers. Egypt is one of the world’s largest remittance markets, with nearly $30B annually. Munify serves Egyptians in the U.S., U.K., Europe, and the Gulf, letting them send money instantly at better rates. It also helps freelancers…
Egypt’s first incentivized goal-based investment platform, has officially launched after closing the pre-seed funding round led by 4DX Ventures, with participation from Plus VC and a group of global angel investors. The company announces obtaining its Portfolio Management License from the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA), enabling it to directly manage investments for retail users. PALM’s Strategy This milestone marks a significant step towards PALM’s strategy to provide a new, smart solution that enables individuals to save, grow, and access their money with unprecedented ease and a high degree `of personalization and flexibility, all through the PALM application now available across…
Maalexi, a UAE-based B2B food and agriculture platform, has secured an Islamic credit facility of up to $20 million from Amwal Capital Partners, an independent alternative investments firm. The agreement begins with an initial $5 million tranche, which will support Maalexi in scaling its operations and strengthening food security across the UAE and Saudi Arabia. The facility, collateralized against the company’s inventory and receivables in UAE warehouses, will also allow Maalexi to channel more of its equity capital toward developing its advanced technology stack, including embedded technologies, proprietary datasets, and an upcoming tokenization layer that will enable real-time transactions and…
Holo, a fintech platform reinventing how people buy homes in the UAE, has announced that it has raised $22 million in one of the largest Series A rounds in the GCC in 2025. The investment round was led by Saudi Arabia’s Impact46, with support from Mubadala Investment Company “Mubadala”, an Abu Dhabi sovereign investor, as well as participation from Saudi institutional investors, Rua Growth Fund, anb seed, and MoreThan Capital, with the participation of returning investors Salica Oryx Fund and Dubai Future District Fund. Buying a Home Michael Hunter & Arran Summerhill, Co-Founders of Holo, stated, “At Holo, we’ve always…
Entlaq, in partnership with El Gouna, is proud to announce the launch of the third edition of the Egyptian Entrepreneurship Sector Diagnostics Report (SDR 2025), taking place in El Gouna from September 24 to 26, 2025. Now recognized as an annual flagship publication, the report offers the most comprehensive analysis of Egypt’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, covering investment flows, sector performance, gender gaps, legal frameworks, and policy trends. The El Gouna Launch Summit will convene government leaders, investors, development partners, startup founders, and international speakers to discuss the report’s findings and align on strategies for the future of entrepreneurship in Egypt. With deep sectoral…
The New York-based startup, Eight Sleep, announced Tuesday that it raised a fresh $100 million round from investors such as HSG, Valor Equity Partners, Founders Fund, Y Combinator and athletes including Ferrari F1 driver Charles Leclerc, and Zak Brown, who is the CEO of McLaren F1. With this round, Eight Sleep has raised roughly $260 million total, Pitchbook estimates. It previously raised an $86 million Series C in 2021 by investors who assigned it a $500 million post-money valuation. Eight offers smart mattresses that integrate software and AI to track and enhance sleep quality. Its flagship product, Pod, offers features…
Al Ahly Momkn, one of Egypt’s leading fintech and digital payments companies and a subsidiary of the National Bank of Egypt, has announced the launch of its new corporate identity — a strategic transformation that reflects its future vision and expansion into providing innovative, comprehensive digital payment solutions. Digital Payment Solutions The new identity embodies the company’s transition from focusing solely on in-store point-of-sale (POS) services to cementing its position as a comprehensive provider of digital payment solutions, enabling individuals and businesses to conduct their financial transactions faster, more securely and more efficiently, in line with Egypt’s rapidly evolving market…
In a significant step towards strengthening Oman’s image as a hub of innovation and digital transformation, the Arabian Research Bureau (ARB)—organizer of the prestigious COMEX (Oman’s global technology and innovation expo)—has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Unified Promotional Identity Office of the Sultanate of Oman, located within the “Nazdhar” (National Programme for Private Sector Development & Foreign Trade). The MoU was signed today by Mr. Amr Abdullah Baabood, CEO of ARB, and His Excellency Dr. Fares bin Turki Al Said, Acting Director of the Unified Promotional Identity Office. This partnership aims to seamlessly integrate Oman’s national promotional…
Shahbandr, a leading enabler of e-commerce and digital transformation in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East and North Africa, and Tamara, the region’s leading provider of Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) solutions, partnered to empower online stores with flexible payment options that help them boost sales and accelerate growth. BNPL Solution Through this partnership, Tamara will provide its BNPL solution to all online stores on the Shahbandr platform, enhancing the shopping experience and increasing conversion rates by offering diverse payment methods and instalment options. At the same time, Shahbandr will be able to collect its service fees directly from Tamara,…
In recent years, companies have started to focus on understanding brand perception and customer sentiment toward their products, creating a market for monitoring and analytics. The global social media analytics market was valued at $13.47 billion in 2024 and is expected to grow from $16.53 billion in 2025 to $61.95 billion by 2032, according to Fortune Business Insights. As AI tools have evolved, so have monitoring and analytics solutions. Before the AI boom, Egyptian entrepreneur Mohy Abou Alam explored this market and co-founded Darwinz in 2021, which later rebranded as TheDar.AI — a Saudi-Egyptian startup offering an AI Copilot platform…
Perle, an AI training data platform powered by Web3 that brings human wisdom to AI models, today announced it has closed a $9 million seed round led by Framework Ventures. The round brings Perle’s total funding to $17.5 million across its seed and pre-seed rounds, marking a major milestone in the company’s growth and mission to improve how AI systems are trained and evaluated. Perle Labs With this new capital, Perle will launch Perle Labs, a crypto-native ecosystem designed to transform how human input powers AI. By integrating blockchain infrastructure and incentive design, Perle Labs will provide transparent payments, on-chain…
The Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (TIEC), of the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA), has welcomed a new cohort of tech startups under the 47th round of its flagship incubation program, Start IT. The program is part of ITIDA’s broader mission to empower youth, promote innovation, and accelerate the growth of early-stage technology ventures across Egypt. Aspiring Entrepreneurs Start IT targets aspiring entrepreneurs with ICT-driven ideas, solutions, or prototypes and helps them build scalable, investment-ready startups. The latest cohort intake reflects ITIDA’s continued commitment to nurturing a vibrant and sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystem. Alumni Networking and Community Building The kickoff…