Welcome to our daily update for the latest developments and activities of startups in the Arab region. This brief will cover the latest news from the region’s vibrant startup ecosystem.
29 September 2023 Startups Activities News
1. Dare Venture Launches the Dare Program to Incubate Startups in the MENA Region’s Architecture, Engineering and Construction Industry.
Dare Venture, the capital arm of design and engineering consultancy Dar Al Handasah, has announced the launch of the DARE program to incubate startups in the architecture, engineering, and construction industry in the MENA region. The six-month incubation program is overseen by Acacia Group, formerly known as Cairo Angels, and selected startups will receive financial support, mentorship, and training and benefit from Dar Al-Handasah’s network of partner universities and strategic partners. Last year, Dar Al Handasah, in partnership with SAIC and Flat6Labs, launched the Makers Building and Construction Technology accelerator program, which was directed to Egyptian startups.
2. Singapore’s E-Commerce and Logistics Solutions Firm Anchanto Expandes Into the Middle East by a Series of Agreements With Prominent Regional Retail and Logistics Companies.
Anchanto Singapore, a specialist in providing e-commerce and logistics solutions, has confirmed the success of its expansion in the Middle East after concluding a series of agreements with prominent local retail and logistics companies in the region, such as Digital Stores, Between, and Jeebly, thus becoming one of the leading e-commerce and logistics solutions providers in the region, less than 18 months after its launch. Anchanto’s expansion is based on the company’s three essential pillars to strengthen. The first is recruiting a growing local team to take advantage of the proximity to its customers to provide close after-sales support. The second pillar is the development of regional alliances, as Anchanto intends to establish new strategic partnerships following collaboration with local companies and consulting associations, and investing in connecting the company’s products to local sales channels and carriers is the third pillar and the principal and distinctive component of the company’s service model. Anchanto’s plans also include expansion within the UAE and various neighbouring countries in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia.
3. WalaPlus Signs a Partnership With Tawuniya to Provide Loyalty and Rewards Programs.
WalaPlus, a company specialising in loyalty and rewards programs, revealed the signing of a partnership with Tawuniya Insurance Company so that the WalaOne loyalty program from WalaPlus will be the strategic partner of Tawuniya to provide offers, discounts and other benefits to vehicle insurance customers. WalaOne allows companies to activate a loyalty and rewards program for their customers to enable them to collect points in a one digital wallet and redeem them for unique benefits such as offers and discounts. Tawuniya explained in its statement that it will provide its customers with vehicle insurance with a variety of special offers and deals on the benefits and services provided by hundreds of famous brands within the Kingdom, which will contribute to maximising the advantages supplied to customers, which enhances their loyalty to the company.
4. Arweqah Partners With BrainySquad to Promote Social Entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia.
Arweqah, a social entrepreneurship company in Saudi Arabia, has signed a partnership agreement with BrainySquad, a marketing and creative services company, to enhance the support provided by Arweqah to social entrepreneurship companies through a package of benefits offered by BrainySquad, in particular extended mentoring and training sessions in the field of marketing and brand building for some companies supported by Arweqah. The most prominent challenge for the two companies is that social entrepreneurship is yet to be widespread, whether at the level of investors or the target audience. Still, the two companies aspire, based on years of experience working in the field of social entrepreneurship, to build a solid social entrepreneurship sector that contributes to the development and achieving the visions of Egypt and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the year 2030, in addition to enhancing the capabilities of social entrepreneurs and empowering them in various aspects and creating cadres with a high degree of social and national responsibility.
5. StashAway Wealth Management Signs Partnership With LeanTechnologies to Streamline the Investment Process in the UAE Through Open Banking Solutions.
StashAway, a leading digital wealth management platform, has announced the signing of a partnership with LeanTechnologies to provide open banking services in the Middle East to simplify and facilitate the investment process in the UAE by offering open banking solutions that are the first of their kind in the UAE that allow the creation of recurring deposits and enable customers to take significant steps towards achieving their financial ambitions regardless of the volatile economic. The company announced in its statement that its customers can now easily create recurring deposits in just two minutes thanks to the integration of LeanTechnologies into the StashAway app, which allows customers to seamlessly link their preferred bank account, determine the recurring amount, and set the pace of investment deposits. The Fast Transfer feature is also available for fast and secure customer transactions, as deposits of up to AED 25,000 take only a few hours to appear on the StashAway app. In contrast, the Larger transfers may take longer depending on the nature and policies of the banks involved. The company confirmed that financial transactions made through LeanTechnologies are subject to banking security measures to reassure customers that their financial data remains secure. Customers will also have the flexibility to modify and repeat the deposit amount, in addition to approving or skipping individual transactions, enabling users to continue to improve their financial plans in line with the desired goals.
6. USAID-Funded Economic Governance Activity Concludes the Third Version of the Open Innovation Platform Program With the Graduation of 23 Egyptian Startups.
The USAID-funded Economic Governance Activity, in partnership with the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA), celebrated the conclusion of the third Version of the Open Innovation Platform Program presented by Plug and Play with the National Bank of Egypt and the Egyptian Post Authority by graduating 23 startups from the Sultan Hussein Kamel Innovation Center in Cairo. The third Version of the Innovation Platform program started in June 2023. During the past three months, 23 Egyptian startups received several workshops and training services from local and international experts. These included opportunities to effectively communicate with an extensive network of partners and investors and provide advisory services on financing and investment opportunities. The participating startups were carefully selected, representing a variety of sectors, including technology, healthcare, fintech and sustainability, where the training program addressed several sessions aimed at enhancing interaction and exchange of experiences among the participants, enriching their understanding of how to face challenges and take advantage of opportunities in this dynamic environment, in addition to learning about the legal framework for business management, learning how to develop a product management strategy, and also revealing the mechanisms of the capital market in Africa.
7. Paymob for Financial Services Signes a Partnership With the Egyptian Company Buguard to Enhance Its Systems in Protecting Cybersecurity.
Paymob Financial Services in the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan (MENAH) region announced the signing of a partnership with cybersecurity firm Buguard in Egypt to strengthen Paymob’s cybersecurity protection systems to ensure the highest levels of security for the data of its customers and employees, especially in light of the increasing cyber threats. This partnership aims to leverage Buguard’s state-of-the-art Dark Atlas monitoring platform by protecting data from potential breaches or threats, as the platform protects the data of Paymob’s extensive merchant network. In the event of any hacking, Dark Atlas alerts Paymob and changes passwords or compromised accounts immediately to prevent attempted hacking or unauthorised use of any data, which serves as an additional shield to protect sensitive personal and financial data within the Paymob network, and Paymob will use several Buguard cybersecurity solutions, including a security penetration testing system to ensure compliance with strict rules and procedures set by local authorities such as the Central Bank of Egypt, In addition to globally recognized standards such as the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS).
8. Ecards Signs a Strategic Cooperation With Network International to Expand the Production, Customization and Processing of Smart Financial Cards Inside and Outside the Egyptian Market.
Ecards, a subsidiary of E-Finance Investment Group, has signed a strategic cooperation with Network International, a leading enabler of trade and digital payments in the Middle East and Africa, to jointly expand the production, customization and processing of smart financial cards to achieve full integration in the smart card services provided to the customers of the two companies on a large scale from inside and outside the Egyptian market. According to the cooperation agreement, Ecards will produce and customise cards in light of the company’s extensive experience in this field. At the same time, Network International manages card processing with more than 30 years of specialised experience in this field, providing an integrated product capable of penetrating various regional markets. It is worth noting that Ecards has succeeded in digitising the payments of many giant national projects in Egypt, such as the Takaful and Karama program, the farmer card system, the management of retirement cards for Egyptian pensions, the implementation of many intelligent solutions for the transport sector, the digitization of railway stations, and other projects with the public and private sectors in various other fields.
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 September 29, 2023 by Safiya K
