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Arab News
3 days ago
- Business
- Arab News
Startup Wrap: Saudi Arabia leads MENA startup funding in H1 with $1.34 billion raised
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia emerged as the Middle East and North Africa's top-funded startup market in the first half of 2025, securing approximately 64 percent of the region's total capital. Investments in the Kingdom surged to $1.34 billion, representing a 342 percent increase compared to the same period in 2024, according to a report by Wamda and Digital Digest. This performance, supported by sovereign wealth backing, targeted government incentives, and strong domestic venture activity, solidified Saudi Arabia's dominance amid a broader regional funding rebound. The Kingdom's fintech sector accounted for the bulk of capital, raising $969 million across 20 transactions. Construction tech and property tech followed with $48 million and $39 million, respectively. Activity was led by local firms such as STV, Wa'ed Ventures, and Raed Ventures, with international participation also emerging — most notably JPMorgan's involvement in a debt round raised by Saudi fintech Lendo. Across the broader region, MENA startups raised $2.1 billion through 334 deals in the first half of 2025, up 134 percent from the same period in 2024. Debt financing played a critical role in this growth, contributing $930 million — about 44 percent of the total. Excluding debt, the year-on-year growth stood at 53 percent, indicating improved but more tempered equity market conditions. The second quarter closed with $583.4 million invested across 149 deals, outperforming the same period of 2024 despite a slower June. Fintech remained the region's top-funded sector, securing $170 million in the second quarter, followed by property tech with $77 million and travel tech with $40 million. The UAE recorded $541 million in investments across 114 deals in the first half, reflecting an 18 percent increase over the previous year. Fintech led with $265.8 million, followed by insurance tech with $55 million, and Web3 and AI with $44.7 million each. Debt made up 19 percent of total UAE deal volume, suggesting a comparatively robust equity environment. Eight female-led startups in the UAE raised $17.6 million, while mixed-gender teams attracted $91.7 million. In Egypt, startup funding climbed 106 percent to reach $179 million across 52 deals, despite sustained macroeconomic pressure and rising external debt. Property tech led with $75 million, followed by fintech with $85.3 million and e-commerce with $24.8 million. Female-founded startups raised $425,000, while mixed-gender teams secured $23 million. Mid-stage investments dominated by capital volume, with $161 million allocated across 10 Series A rounds in the second quarter. However, early-stage startups — defined as pre-seed to Series A — continued to account for the majority of transactions, capturing $568 million in the first half. Later-stage companies secured $431.7 million. Fintech sustained its leadership across MENA in the first half, attracting 62 percent of total capital through 77 deals. Venture studios ranked second, driven by a major investment in iMena Group, while property tech came third with $119 million raised across 16 startups. Business-to-business models accounted for 70 percent of total first half funding, securing $1.5 billion across 197 transactions. Business-to-consumer and hybrid models attracted the remainder. Despite record-breaking funding levels, gender disparities persisted. Startups led solely by men received nearly 89 percent of first half capital. Female-founded ventures raised $84.5 million across 27 deals, while mixed-gender teams garnered $150 million through 48 deals. ZabonEx raises $100k to optimize food supply chains in Oman Oman-based predictive analytics startup ZabonEx has raised $100,000 in pre-seed funding, led by Future Fund Oman and ITHCA Group. Founded in 2023 by Hatim Moosa and Almuhannad Al-Balushi, ZabonEx offers a B2B Software-as-a-Service platform that delivers real-time, customer-level demand forecasting for the food and beverage sector. The funding will support enhancements to ZabonEx's predictive engine, the expansion of its tech team, and the development of strategic partnerships within Oman's food supply chain. The startup is also building onboarding tools tailored to the local market as it prepares for regional expansion. Qlub raises $30m to drive international growth UAE-based fintech Qlub has raised $30 million in a new funding round to support its global expansion efforts. The round was co-led by Shorooq Partners and Cherry Ventures, with participation from e&, Mubadala Investments, and Legend Capital. Qlub, founded in 2021 by Eyad Al-Kassar and Mahmoud Fouz, offers a contactless dining payment platform allowing diners to view menus, order, and pay via smartphone. The new funds will be used to expand into additional markets, enhance analytics capabilities, and improve integration with hospitality systems. According to the company, clients have reported 300 percent more tips, 80 percent faster checkouts, and substantial labor cost savings. Lime launches in Egypt to address education finance needs Lime Consumer Finance, a subsidiary of First Abu Dhabi Bank Group, has launched operations in Egypt with a focus on education financing. Licensed by the Financial Regulatory Authority, Lime aims to provide accessible and transparent financial solutions for Egyptian families. The platform supports payments across a network of nurseries, schools, and universities and offers installment plans of up to 12 months for amounts up to 1 million Egyptian pounds. With over 30 percent of Egypt's population under 15, the company positions education as a strategic entry point for broader financial services. Flend secures $3m to bridge SME funding gap in Egypt Egyptian fintech Flend has raised $3 million in seed funding through a mix of equity and debt. The equity round was led by Egypt Ventures, with participation from Camel Ventures, Sukna Ventures, Plus VC, Banque Misr, and prominent family offices. Debt financing was provided by MSMEDA and local banks. Founded by Ahmed Zaki, Nehal Helmy, and Saif Edeen El-Bendari, Flend provides fully digital short-term working capital loans to SMEs, with direct integration into over 20 supply chain platforms. The company plans to deploy 1 billion Egyptian pounds in loans over the next year while expanding its team, partnerships, and technical infrastructure. Journify doubles valuation following strategic investment UAE-based Journify has secured new strategic investment from Shorooq Partners, Bunat Ventures, and Plug and Play, doubling its valuation and achieving fivefold revenue growth within six months. The startup was founded in 2023 by Taoufik El-Jamali, Amine Chouki, and Omar Al-Shoubaki. Journify provides an AI-powered data activation platform that helps Gulf Cooperation Council brands leverage first-party data across major ad platforms. The company plans to use the funding to advance its AI roadmap, scale hiring across key departments, and expand further into the GCC market. SafaQat secures investment to advance AI-driven procurement in Oman Oman-based digital procurement platform SafaQat has received funding from the Oman Future Fund and Idrak Group. Founded in 2020 by four brothers, the startup digitises the tendering process and is supported by the SME Development Authority. SafaQat intends to enhance its AI infrastructure, improve the user experience, and expand into government procurement and new markets with the latest investment.
Bloomberg
16-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Aramco's VC Arm Backs Record AI Funding Round for Saudi Startup
Saudi Aramco's venture capital arm, Wa'ed Ventures, has backed a $30 million Series B funding round for local artificial intelligence startup Lucidya, marking the largest such raise by an artificial intelligence company in the kingdom. Wa'ed Ventures participated in the round alongside lead investor Impact46. Takamol Ventures, SparkLabs and returning backers Rua Growth Fund and ARG also joined, according to a statement from Lucidya. Individual investment amounts were not disclosed.
Wamda
19-05-2025
- Business
- Wamda
Wa'ed Ventures co-leads $19 million Investment in Graphiant
Aramco's Wa'ed Ventures has co-led a $19 million Series B extension in US-based Graphiant, alongside stc Group's Tali Ventures, as part of a broader $102 million Series B round. Other participants in the round include Sequoia Capital, Two Bear Capital, and IAG Capital Partners. Graphiant, founded in 2020 by Khalid Raza, delivers a next-generation Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) platform that enables secure, high-performance enterprise connectivity across hybrid and multi-cloud environments. As part of the agreement, Graphiant will establish its regional headquarters in Riyadh, supporting Saudi Arabia's vision to become a global hub for emerging technologies. Press release: Graphiant, a leading US-based Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) provider, announces closing its $19 million extension round co-led by Wa'ed Ventures, the $500 million VC fund wholly owned by Aramco, and Tali Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of stc Group. This strategic investment is an extension of Graphiant's $102 million Series B round, which included participation from Sequoia Capital, Two Bear Capital, and IAG Capital Partners. Graphiant is redefining connectivity by delivering a next-generation, cloud-native platform that transforms data networks for AI to meet security challenges while providing improved reliability. With over 13 patents, the company has already deployed its platform with global enterprises including Sony Pictures and Valmont. As part of the investment agreement, Graphiant will establish a regional headquarters in Riyadh, further strengthening the Kingdom's position as a hub for emerging technology. The move aligns with Wa'ed's strategy for localising global technology pioneers and reflects the fund's commitment to supporting advanced digital infrastructure and AI technologies with a strong potential for localisation and scalability in the Kingdom. "By enabling enterprises to deploy secure, high-performance connectivity across multi-cloud and hybrid environments, Graphiant is solving foundational challenges for digital transformation. We are excited to back their expansion into the Kingdom as a strategic partner and look forward to supporting Khalid on his journey to bring world-class digital infrastructure closer to Saudi businesses," said Anas Algahtani, Acting Chief Executive Officer at Wa'ed Ventures. Founded by Khalid Raza, a recognised pioneer in network innovation, Graphiant delivers a cutting-edge approach to building resilient, secure, scalable, and high-performance enterprise networks. Prior to Graphiant, Raza founded Viptela, the first software-defined WAN networking, which was acquired by CISCO in 2017. 'Saudi Arabia is rapidly becoming a global epicentre for innovation,' said Khalid Raza, CEO of Graphiant. 'The strategic partnership with Tali Ventures, Wa'ed Ventures, and the broader support of stc Group marks a defining chapter in our journey. Together, we are committed to building the foundation of next-generation digital economies — starting here in the Kingdom.' 'At stc Group, we are committed to driving digital transformation across the region by investing in global innovation and emerging technologies,' said Motaz Alangari, Group Chief Investment Officer, stc. 'Graphiant's groundbreaking approach to enterprise connectivity aligns with our strategic goals to localise advanced digital capabilities, foster technology transfer, and create scalable solutions for the Kingdom's public and private sectors. We are excited to welcome Graphiant to Saudi Arabia and support their journey to redefine how modern networks are built.' The Network-as-a-Service market is expected to reach $92 billion globally by 2030, fueled by surging demand for flexible, AI-ready connectivity solutions Graphiant's platform positions it at the forefront of this transformation.
Arab News
03-04-2025
- Business
- Arab News
AI as the engine of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030
Artificial intelligence has emerged as a cornerstone of innovation and economic transformation globally, and in Saudi Arabia, its impact is both profound and far-reaching. As the Kingdom embarks on a journey to realize the goals of Vision 2030, AI is playing a pivotal role in driving progress, fostering economic diversification, and empowering organizations to embrace the future of technology. At the heart of Vision 2030 lies a commitment to harnessing cutting-edge technologies such as AI to build a knowledge-based economy and establish Saudi Arabia as a leading global hub of innovation. The recently announced Riyadh Declaration underscores the importance of AI as a transformative force. It emphasizes the need for AI technologies to enable digital access, enhance digital knowledge, and tackle global challenges while creating economic value. This vision aligns seamlessly with Saudi Arabia's plans to invest $100 billion in establishing a world-class AI technology hub under the banner of 'Project Transcendence.' This initiative promises to bring together expertise, infrastructure, and innovation to position the Kingdom at the forefront of AI advancements. Adding to this momentum is GAIA, Saudi Arabia's generative AI startup accelerator program. Launched in Riyadh in May 2023, GAIA represents a bold step toward nurturing a vibrant AI ecosystem by empowering startups and innovators to develop groundbreaking solutions. Similarly, Waed Ventures, Saudi Aramco's venture capital arm, has allocated $100 million to invest in AI startups, further solidifying the Kingdom's commitment to building a thriving technological landscape. Notably, Aramco's METABRAIN — a 250 billion parameter large language model — stands as a testament to Saudi Arabia's ambition to lead in AI innovation, showcasing the potential to revolutionize industries and create unparalleled value. The potential impact of AI on Saudi Arabia's economy is substantial. A PwC report estimates that AI could contribute $135 billion to the Kingdom's gross domestic product by 2030, a significant portion of the nation's economic growth. This transformative potential is already becoming a reality as organizations of all sizes and across all sectors embrace AI to optimize operations, drive growth, and accelerate progress toward Vision 2030. In manufacturing, for instance, Obeikan Investment Group leveraged Azure OpenAI and IoT technologies to develop and implement a smart factory platform across 22 of the company's factories. As a result, the organization achieved a 30 percent increase in overall equipment effectiveness, a 30 percent reduction in costs, as well as significant reductions in waste and energy consumption. Similarly, the Saudi Arabian Mining Co. (Ma'aden), the largest mining company in the Middle East, adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot to help employees spend less time on administrative tasks and instead focus on more strategic tasks out in the field. Over a period of six months, employees were able to significantly enhance their productivity, saving around 27 minutes per day that were previously spent on unnecessary meetings, 14 minutes on searching for and summarizing documents, and 18 minutes on creating high-quality content. In education, Gameit, an innovative Saudi startup, leveraged Azure OpenAI to develop AI-powered games that enhance cognitive skills such as attention, memory, logical reasoning, auditory and visual perception, and social skills in children. With our investments in a new cloud datacenter region, we are providing the foundation for Saudi organizations to innovate and lead in the era of AI. Turki Badhris The games are scientifically designed to help all school students, including those facing learning challenges. Meanwhile, Diriyah, the historic birthplace of the first Saudi state and home to the UNESCO World Heritage site of At-Turaif, utilized the advanced capabilities of Copilot Studio to develop and deploy the 'CXQA AI Agent,' which is empowering its teams to enhance customer experiences, analyze data to uncover key trends, develop tailored solutions, and efficiently manage complex on-site operations. Such use cases highlight the transformative potential of AI in addressing complex challenges, fostering innovation, and delivering tangible benefits to society. As a longstanding partner in Saudi Arabia's digital transformation journey, Microsoft is deeply committed to empowering organizations to leverage the latest advancements in AI and other transformative technologies to achieve their goals. Our investments in the Kingdom reflect this commitment, specifically the construction of a new cloud datacenter region that will empower businesses with access to scalable, highly secure, and resilient cloud services. Recently, we completed construction of three Azure Availability Zones, which will serve as the necessary foundation for AI innovation, enabling organizations to access the latest AI technologies and services with enhanced security and reliability. Our collaborations with leading Saudi organizations further underscore our dedication to fostering a vibrant technological ecosystem. By partnering with government entities, enterprises, and startups, we aim to create solutions that drive innovation, attract global investments, and position Saudi Arabia as a global hub for technology and talent. As Saudi Arabia continues its journey toward realizing Vision 2030, AI stands as a powerful catalyst for change. The Kingdom's bold investments in AI infrastructure, startups, and innovation are not just setting the stage for the future — they are defining it. We have seen how organizations like Obeikan, Ma'aden, Gameit, and Diriyah are already reaping the tangible benefits of AI, from increased efficiency and cost savings to enhanced customer experiences and educational advancements. This is not a distant vision; it is the reality unfolding now. With such undeniable momentum, the time to embrace AI at scale is not tomorrow, but today. The opportunities for transformation are vast, and the potential to contribute to Saudi Arabia's goals is immense. Don't just observe the AI revolution; be a part of it. Microsoft stands ready to support everyone on this journey, empowering organizations to navigate the complexities of the digital age, accelerate their AI transformation, and unlock new opportunities for growth and prosperity. With our investments in a new cloud datacenter region, we are providing the foundation for Saudi organizations to innovate and lead in the era of AI. We look forward to the road ahead as we help accelerate progress toward Vision 2030 and build a more prosperous and sustainable future for the Kingdom. • Turki Badhris is president of Microsoft Arabia
