Welcome to our daily funding update for MENA startups. This brief will cover the latest funding news and investments from the region’s vibrant startup ecosystem.
13 October 2023 Funding and Investment Update
1. Saudi POS & Payments Solutions Firm Cashin Acquires the Entire Digital Cards Company Cardless.
Saudi Arabia’s Cashin Company, which specialises in providing point-of-sale solutions and digital payments, announced that it has reached an agreement under which it will fully acquire the digital card company Cardless. The company stated that the acquisition represents a significant step to expand its business and enter the field of digital cards and distribute them through a single operating system and device under the name of Cashin cards, as the service allows more than 20,000 merchants to issue digital cards, add them to sales products and benefit from their commission through digital wallets without a credit limit. At the same time, the application enables merchants to reach many service providers in various sectors, which helps them diversify sales channels and raise returns and profits. According to Cashin’s statement, the acquisition aims to offer purchasing solutions for digital cards through its unified platform.
2. Saudi Language Learning App WRITALK Closes $4.4 Million Pre-Seed Funding Round Led by Kenayah.
Saudi language learning app WRITALK closed a pre-seed funding round led by Kenayah and a group of angel investors without disclosing its value despite declaring it was estimated at $4.4 million. The WRITALK application, which Bader Al-Salama and Saleh Al-Haqqas founded at the end of 2021, provides subscribers with improving their language and speaking skills and breaking the barrier in front of the public through live interactive broadcasts with trainers whose mother tongue is English through various packages with affordable prices. The founders of the application stated they are working to change the ways of learning languages online, which now require more modern products, as most of them have become expensive and limited to minutes and daily packages that are not enough to practise and master any language, not to mention being offered individual education that isolates students from their colleagues and does not provide fair returns for teachers, which is what WRITALK is trying to change.
3. Egyptian Insurtech Startup Amenli Secures a Million Dollar Equity Financing Led by Alter Global.
Egyptian insurtech startup Amenli has secured USD 1 million in equity funding led by Alter Global Venture Capital and the participation of Digital Venture Partners, the venture capital arm of Qatar Insurance Company. Founded in 2020 and licensed by Egypt’s Financial Supervisory Authority, Amenli provides a wide range of affordable and easily accessible insurance products as the startup works to build the technological infrastructure to create strong product distribution and innovation benefits and thus enhance the insurance experience for both individuals and SMEs. The new funding will allow Amenli to introduce new products targeting existing and new customers to meet their insurance needs and develop new distribution channels that open a market that helps the Amenli team dominate a space aimed at corporate and individual customers – B2B2C.
That’s all for today’s funding update. Stay tuned for more updates on the MENA startup scene, and remember to subscribe to our newsletter or browse our archives for more news and analysis.
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Last Updated on October 13, 2023 by Safiya K
