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.
6th May 2023 Funding and Investment Update:
- UAE-based “e& enterprise” has acquired a majority stake in the UAE’s crowdfunding platform Beehive for $35 million. Beehive, founded in 2014 by Craig Moore, is a peer-to-peer lending platform that connects creditworthy SMEs seeking finance with investors, delivering conventional and Sharia-compliant loans. The acquisition will allow “e& enterprise” to offer a novel lending solution to meet the $250 billion SME credit gap in the GCC region.
- Snoonu, a Qatar-based super app, has raised $12 million in Series B funding led by the Qatar Development Bank, with participation from other unnamed investors. Snoonu is an e-commerce startup founded in 2019 by Hamad al-Hajri that aims to revolutionise the Qatari market by providing the country’s fastest and most diverse delivery services, where its application offers multiple services such as online shopping, food, and grocery delivery, as well as third-party logistics services for local startups and SMEs. The additional funds will enable the firm to speed its growth and technological development, extend its product range, and improve its marketing efforts, allowing it to build its integrated app.
- Proparco, the investment arm of the French Development Agency (AFD), has announced a $5M investment in the DisrupTech Ventures Fund to support development in Egypt’s fintech sector and to help the country deliver financial services. DisrupTech Ventures has raised $36M from various investors, including major financial institutions and family funds, to provide funding for 28 fintech startups. Proparco’s investment in DisrupTech is part of its venture capital investment program, which has seen it spend more than €120M since 2020 to support early-stage African startups and venture capital funds.
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.
These funding updates were sourced from a press release, Wamda.com, and Followict.
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Last Updated on May 7, 2023 by Safiya K
