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.
7th September 2023 Funding and Investment Update
1. Emirati Fintech Startup MyZoi Closes a $14 Million Investment Round Through SC Ventures to Launch Its Integrated Services by the End of the Year.
UAE-based fintech startup MyZoi has closed a US$14 million funding round through Standard Chartered Bank’s SC Ventures and Japan’s SBI Holdings. MyZoi was founded in 2022 in the UAE and operates on a small scale to enable low-income, unbanked workers to save or transfer their money to their families. The company has stated that it has obtained the Stored Value Facilities (SVF) license, the retail payment services system license, and the card system from the Central Bank of the UAE in preparation for its full launch by the end of this year.
2. Kuwait’s Instant Payment Services Platform Kem Secures a Million-Dollar Funding Round Led by Maqamees Holdings to Develop Its App and Expand in the GCC Region.
Kuwait’s instant payment services platform Kem secured a million-dollar investment round led by Maqamees Holdings and the participation of some international investors. Founded in Kuwait in 2021 by brothers Seth, Zain Sadek, and George Chichua, Kem offers its customers instant payment services through its digital application, including sending and receiving money via QR code as part of a secure process that does not require payment links or IBAN codes. The startup will use the funds collected to develop its app, expand, and enter new markets in the GCC region.
3. Egyptian Health Technology Platform SehaTech Raises $850,000 in Pre-Seed Funding via A15 and Beltone Venture Capital to Expand Its Team and Build and Develop Its Products.
Egyptian health technology platform SehaTech managed to raise investments of $850,000 during a pre-seed funding round through A15 and Beltone Venture Capital. Founded in 2022 by Mohamed El Shabrawy and Omar Shawky, SehaTech, which specializes in health insurance services and solutions in Egypt 2022, provides insurance services and software solutions that connect healthcare service providers to bridge the communication gap between them and simplify their financial transactions, in addition to providing health insurance discounts to its customers on various health care services. The startup will use the new funding to expand its team and build and develop its products to improve the user experience and attract new customers.
4. Tunisia’s SeekMake Platform for Custom-Made Manufacturing Receives $539,000 in Funding Led by Lafayette to Enter European Markets.
The Tunisian platform for custom-made manufacturing, SeekMake, closed a $539,000 funding round by Lafayette Group, where the platform received the investment in three instalments. The SeekMake digital platform, which was founded in Tunisia in 2018 by Adel Ayari and Zeno Adedi, offers customized manufacturing services and solutions in various fields through three-dimensional printing technologies, engraving and laser cutting, and CNC machines and also processes the requests of its customers and provides them with a price request for the product to be manufactured through a network Its global partners in its areas of operation. The startup will invest in its international expansion plan and enter new markets such as France and Germany.
5. Egyptian Fintech Platform HEDG Closes a Six-Digit Pre-Seed Funding Round to Expand and Introduce a New Concept of Savings and Investment to Its Customers in Egypt.
Egyptian fintech platform HEDG has announced that it has closed a six-digit pre-seed funding round without disclosing its exact value by some Egyptian and Saudi investors. HEDG, which specialises in financial planning and savings services and solutions for retirement, was established in 2022 by Ahmed Abdel Moaty and Ahmed Iraqi. Through its digital application, the platform seeks to help workers in the private sector and freelancers build retirement plans and invest their savings. The platform will invest in serving its expansion plan and providing a new concept of savings and investment to the Egyptian public through its services, diversifying its financial products, and launching an investment product for retirement early next year. The company has stated that it intends to apply to join the Financial Regulatory Authority’s (SandBox) Technical Lab as soon as it completes the development and infrastructure works.
6. Moroccan EdTech Startup Smartprof Secures Funding Led by French Firm Fuze to Start a New Phase of the Company’s Growth.
Moroccan edtech company Smartprof has received investment funding that has not been disclosed by Fuze, the French startup funding specialist in Africa, and Smartprof said in a report that it would direct the amount of funding to start a new phase of growth in the company, as it will redefine the educational landscape between students and academics and close gaps in qualified teachers. The new investment supports the Talents 4 Startups initiative to train African students through the Digital Africa program. Fuze provides ongoing financial support to French-speaking African startups to boost their growth paths.
7. Pulsar Capital Acquires Controlling Stake in UAE’s TruDoc to Accelerate Its Expansion Plans.
TruDoc, the leading provider of virtual healthcare services in the UAE, has announced that it has secured an investment by acquiring a significant stake in the healthcare, e-commerce and fintech sectors by Pulsar Capital. This investment will considerably contribute to TruDoc’s journey to redefine healthcare delivery and expand its patient operations in several regions worldwide. The new investment by Pulsar Capital will enhance TruDoc’s products and accelerate its expansion plans across South Asia, GCC and Africa by bringing global best practices to the region. Pulsar Capital’s acquisition of a controlling stake in TruDoc comes just one year after its initial investment in the company in 2022, under which it held a minority stake before deciding to invest more in the startup.
8. IMPACT46 Invests $133 Million in Tech Startups in the Region Through Its Third Investment Fund.
IMPACT46 has announced the start of the startup investment phase through its third investment fund worth more than $133 million, which it announced in February 2023, intending to invest in tech startups of various stages in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East region. The third IMPACT46 Fund’s investment strategy supports Saudi startups in the FinTech, SaaS sectors, digital platforms, and cybersecurity. The method also includes investing in various stages of the companies’ development, from growth to the pre-IPO stage, with investments allocated to promising companies in the region. It is worth noting that IMPACT46 has invested more than SAR 650 million in more than 35 startups since its inception in 2019. According to its statement, the first fund (SEED), which was established in 2019, achieved an increase of 3.6 times the value of the initial investment so far, while the second fund (Growth), which was launched two years ago, achieved an increase of 1.9 times the value of the initial investment. The company noted that it has successfully exited more than five investments, including the initial public offering of Jahez in 2021, the first Saudi technology startup to be listed on the parallel market “Nomu”.
9. Saudi Rewaa for SaaS Closes a $27 Million Series A Round Led by WAED Ventures and STC to Expand Its Growth in the Region.
Rawaa, a leading Saudi SaaS provider, has announced the closure of a $27 million Series A investment round led by WAED Ventures Fund and the participation of one of Saudi Aramco’s most prominent venture fund venture startups. STC attended the round through its institutional venture investment fund in startups (CIF), launched in February this year to invest in early-stage technology companies in various digital sectors. This investment marks a milestone as Rewaa is the first venture capital investment by CIF in Saudi Arabia since the fund’s inception. Some prominent regional and global venture capital funds participated in the round, such as Sadu Capital Fund, Vision Ventures, Khwarizmi Ventures, Razem Investment Company, Derayah Investment Fund, Abdulrahman Sulaiman Al Rajhi Company, US Graphene Ventures Fund, and other investors. The round is the most significant investment round for a Saudi SaaS company in the MENA region. Since its inception in 2018 by entrepreneurs Mohammed Al-Qaseer and Abdullah Al-Jadhai, Rewaa has been at the forefront of innovation in the field of digitization of the retail sector by providing an integrated and easy-to-implement cloud solution that includes accounting systems, inventory management and point-of-sale solutions, and the feature of seamlessly linking branch stores to electronic store stores. The company aims to be the first technology partner for the local merchant, as the value of transactions made today through the Rewaa platform since its inception exceeded eight billion riyals, making it one of the fastest-growing technology companies in the region.
10. UAE’s FinTech and Medical Insurance Platform MALY Raises $1.6 Million in Funding to Support the Company’s Digital Financial Services Expansion in the UAE.
Dubai-based fintech and medical insurance platform MALY has secured $1.6 million in financing from GCC investors to support the company’s expansion into digital financial services in the UAE. The company stated that the funding targets more significant support for financial instruments and returns on investment in health services in the Middle East and North Africa region, facing a 60% increase in demand. Through the new investments, MALY targets the Saudi and UAE markets, expansion services in pension and savings services, and investment management in long-term debt instruments. The funds raised will increase the customer base and introduce products suitable for the UAE market to help customers with built-in savings and enhance artificial intelligence technologies in providing advanced banking services. The company stated that it is harnessing all capabilities to support and improve health services in the region and link them to artificial intelligence technologies.
11. UAE Social Media Platform Lyvely Raises New Funding Led by Cypher Capital to Transform Social Networks and Social E-Commerce.
UAE-based social media and content monetization platform Lyvely has closed an investment round led by Cipher Capital with an undisclosed amount. Lyvely offers integrated multimedia e-commerce and payments solutions, and the emerging platform has been witnessing rapid growth among users and content creators since its launch at the beginning of August. Led by its founders, Farah Dhofar, and Dave Cattuda, Lyvely aims to compete with the world’s leading technology companies, transforming social networks and social e-commerce. Cypher Capital’s initial investment provides a strategic advantage for the platform in the Web 3 space and content creation platforms, as Lyvely intends to develop a digital currency token to integrate seamlessly into the platform, enhancing the user experience and capabilities of the platform, as Lyvely has teamed up with a global payments facilitation platform, and an innovative regional fintech platform to launch the exclusive Creator-focused Lyvely credit card. This exclusive card enables content creators to securely store and supervise their earnings away from the constraints of traditional banking.
12. UAE’s Cryptocurrency Exchange BitOasis Receives New Investments Led by India’s CoinDCX to Strengthen Its Presence on the Regional Scene and Ensure Its Future Growth Is Sustainable.
BitOasis, the UAE’s cryptocurrency trading platform, has announced receiving an undisclosed investment led by India’s CoinDCX, Wamda Capital, and Jump Capital. Founded in Dubai in 2015 by Ola Dudin, BitOasis provides buying, selling, and trading services to more than 60 cryptocurrencies in 15 countries, and through its vision, seeks to provide cryptocurrencies to millions of users in the region within a secure ecosystem that ensures smooth trading for new and professional traders. The platform will invest in strengthening its presence on the regional scene, ensuring its future growth’s sustainability, obtaining the necessary licenses in the region, and serving its individual and institutional customers.
13. AI and Tabular Data Firm Ikigai Labs Raises $25 Million Funding Round Led by e& Investment to Back Companies Meet the Challenges of Harnessing Large Data Sets and Ensure the Accuracy of Expected Outcomes.
AI and tabular data firm Ikigai Labs has announced closing a $25 million Series A funding round led by e&Invest and involving investment developer Premji Invest and Foundation Capital. Kigai Labs offers a no-code AI solution, helping businesses meet the challenges of harnessing large data sets and ensuring the accuracy of expected outcomes. This innovative approach combines the latest time series forecasts with three core tools: aiMatch for data reconciliation, aiCast for predicting outcomes, and aiPlan for scenario planning. This investment reinforces Ikigai Labs’ vision of changing the way organizations use AI, enabling organizations to master the use of AI through the Kigai Academy and its premium platform. Ikigai Academy is training more than 6,000 students from more than 90 countries on topics such as “No Code AI” and “Time Series Prediction” and supporting education by enriching it with the innovative Expert-in-the-Loop – EiTL approach. With this investment, E&E reaffirms its commitment to supporting innovative technologies, as this strategic move could spur the next generation of AI-driven solutions, heralding a more creative, data-driven business world.
14. Morocco-Based Financial Services Company Cash Plus VC Invests in the Startup SLE3TI to Expand Its Presence and Diversify Its Activities in the Daily Consumer Products Distribution Sector.
Morocco’s leading financial services company, Cash Plus, has announced its investment in the startup Sle3TI through its investment arm, Cash Plus VC, dedicated to supporting startups. Founded in 2020 by businessman Ayoub Harej in Casablanca, Morocco, SLE3TI, which distributes daily consumer products for local grocery stores, collects a database of more than 10,000 active grocery stores on its platform. SLE3TI has distinguished itself by offering a technological platform that facilitates transactions between local grocery stores and suppliers of daily consumer goods thanks to its interface and functions that have been specially adapted to meet the needs of the local market, where the SLE3TI application has succeeded in simplifying Purchasing, optimizing inventory, and strengthening links between key players in the supply chain, this strategic investment represents a critical step for Cash Plus in its goal of expanding its presence and diversifying its activities in the ever-evolving daily consumer product distribution sector.
15. MT Holding Acquires a Majority Stake in Jareed E-Publishing Company With 51% to Expand Into Specialised Content.
MT Holding announced the acquisition of a majority stake in Jareed Electronic Publishing Company, amounting to 51%, as part of its strategy to expand specialised content, especially newsletters, which constitute one of the essential forms of content due to their impact despite the low costs. Founded in 2020, Jareed has subscribers in 76 countries worldwide who have received more than 20 million emails. She also pointed out that many of its clients are business people, decision-makers and CEOs, especially in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. MT Holding’s investment in Jareed confirms their belief in the transformation in the content industry and the importance of specialised newsletters in achieving distinguished results for their customers and partners through high profitability and value for subscribers. According to Jareed statements, the startup was able to build publishing solutions and create content that helped keep pace with daily news and select what interests the follower and interests him, which led to the growth of subscribers to become the largest Saudi publication with high interaction rates even compared to it at the global level. Jareed will employ the new funding to develop its experience in other recent publications and expand to meet the market’s and subscribers’ needs in providing content of qualitative value and high marketing targeting for advertisers, ensuring a feasible financial return.
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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