Inspiring, empowering, and connecting entrepreneurs in the Middle East and North Africa.
Middle East
Joined June 2010
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🇸🇦 Saudi gaming startup Lambda Studios has raised $1.3 million in a funding round led by @MerakCapital.
Founded in 2024, Lambda Studios develops and publishes video games. The business originated as a project the founders started in Makkah nearly a decade before formally establishing the company.
🔗 Read the full story:
wamda.com/2026/11/merak-capi…
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🇦🇪 UAE-based fintech @wafrchain has secured an undisclosed pre-seed funding round, led by angel investors.
Co-founded by Mahmoud Bouchelif and Anthony Murphy in 2026, Wafr offers Shariah-compliant financial services to individuals, businesses and financial institutions.
🔗 Read the full story:
wamda.com/2026/11/uae-wafr-a…
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia-based sales intelligence startup @mawsoolb2b has closed an undisclosed pre-seed funding round, with participation from @parachute16me, Ghassan Halawa, @Thanawi_io, Advanced Elements Co. and Abdullah M. Al-Dosari, alongside other investors.
Founded in 2023 by Osama Abdelhadi and Oday Ali, Mawsool develops an AI-powered B2B sales intelligence platform that helps companies identify potential customers, verify business contacts and generate sales leads.
The funding will support further development of Mawsool's technology and sales intelligence capabilities.
🔗 Read the full story:
wamda.com/2026/11/mawsool-ra…
Omani climatetech company @4401earth has secured a strategic investment from Swiss building materials company @Holcim through its corporate venture capital activities. The investment amount and equity stake were not disclosed.
Founded in 2020 by Talal Hasan, Ehab Tasfai and Karan Khimji, 44.01 develops carbon mineralisation technology that injects captured carbon dioxide into reactive underground rock formations, converting it into stable carbonate minerals for permanent storage.
The investment will support 44.01's commercial scaling and international expansion.
🔗 Read the full story:
wamda.com/2026/11/oman-44-01…
🇦🇪 UAE-headquartered fintech enza has raised $6 million in a Seed+ funding round, led by 4DX Ventures, with participation from British International Investment (BII). Existing investors Quona Capital and Algebra Ventures, which co-led the company's $6.75 million seed round in March 2025, also increased their investments.
Founded in 2023 by Hany Fekry and Hamish Houston, enza is headquartered in Abu Dhabi, with regional offices in Egypt, South Africa, Ghana and Nigeria. The company provides payment infrastructure that enables banks and fintechs to offer digital payment services through a single platform integration
🔗 Read the full story:
wamda.com/2026/11/enza-attra…
MENA startup funding collapsed 96% in October, dropping to $40M across 32 deals from $1.1B in September.
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia led with $18.8M.
🚗 Autotech topped funding.
📊 Early-stage deals captured 84% of capital.
YTD funding stands at $3.39B.
Read the full breakdown on Wamda.
wamda.com/en/2026/11/mena-st…
UAE-based venture capital firm BY Venture Partners has closed its third fund at $60 million, bringing its total assets under management (AUM) to more than $200 million.
The fund is anchored by the Dubai Future District Fund (DFDF), with participation from MultiLane, Transmed Capital, Idriss Family Office and other institutional and private investors.
Led by founding partners Ghaith YAFI, Abdallah Yafi, Rami El-Jisr and Sohrab Jahanbani, BY Venture Partners invests in early-stage technology startups across MENA and international markets. Its previous funds backed companies such as NymCard, Toters, Huspy and Invisible.
Fund III will invest primarily up to $1 million per startup, targeting AI-native companies at the Pre-Seed to Series A stages, particularly those developing AI-powered solutions for enterprise workflows.
🔗 Read the full story: wamda.com/en/2026/10/by-vent…
🇲🇦 Morocco-based healthtech company ABA Life has signed a $40 million investment agreement with pan-African private equity firm Admaius Capital Partners, subject to customary closing conditions and approval from Morocco's Competition Council.
📍 Founded in 2021, ABA Life is the healthcare arm of ABA Technology, founded and chaired by MOHAMED BENOUDA.
The company develops and operates healthcare solutions combining artificial intelligence, medical technology, telemedicine, connected healthcare infrastructure and clinical services.
🔗 Read the full story:
wamda.com/2026/10/morocco-ab…
🇪🇬 Egypt-based climatetech startup NoorNation has closed a $1.05 million seed funding round, backed by Linah Farms, @TheCatalystFund and KBW Ventures.
📍 Founded in 2021 by Ragy Ramadan and Mohamed Khaled, NoorNation develops decentralised clean energy and water infrastructure for agricultural businesses and underserved communities.
🔗 Read the full story: wamda.com/2026/10/egyptian-c…
Not every dollar of growth needs to cost founders equity.
With Tamara securing a $2.4B facility, MENA scaleups are showing how debt can finance growth without further dilution.
A new opinion piece on Wamda explores the changing capital stack.
wamda.com/en/2026/10/mena-sc…
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia-based proptech startup Ghanem has raised an additional $1.5 million in a pre-seed extension round, backed by real estate companies and strategic angel investors.
📍 Founded in 2025 by Saleh Al-Ghamdi and Amr Essam, Ghanem operates a fractional real estate ownership platform that allows individuals and institutions to invest in income-generating properties in Saudi Arabia.
💰 The recent investment brings the round's total to $8.6 million.
🔗 Read the full story:
wamda.com/2026/10/saudi-prop…
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia-based eventtech startup inve has raised $300,000 in a Pre-Seed funding round from Outliers VC.
📍 Founded in 2024 by Abdulrahman Alabdulkarim, INVE operates a digital event management platform for individuals and businesses, offering personalised invitations, RSVP management, guest profiles, branded registration pages and digital entry passes.
🔗 Read the full story:
wamda.com/2026/10/inve-raise…
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🇰🇼 Kuwait-based AI-powered market research startup theQA has raised more than $550,000 in a pre-Seed funding round, backed by a Kuwaiti family office and strategic angel investors.
📍 Founded in 2025 by Ahmad Al Ebrahim and Hussain Ali AlNashaba, theQA provides a digital consumer research platform that enables businesses, agencies and researchers to create AI-assisted surveys, reach targeted audiences and collect consumer insights to inform business decisions.
🔗 Read the full story:
wamda.com/2026/10/theqa-rais…
🇦🇪 UAE-based healthtech startup Vitalls has secured a $1.5 million investment commitment from Singapore-based EST GROWMORE as part of its seed round.
📍 Founded in 2023 by Mehdi Bouchenak, Vitalls develops an AI-powered digital health passport that enables individuals and families to securely store, manage and share their medical records across healthcare providers and countries.
🔗 Read the full story:
wamda.com/en/2026/10/uae-hea…
🇺🇸 US-based AI-powered analytics startup Databuddy Analytics has raised more than $560,000 in total funding, including $500,000 in seed funding from Y Combinator, alongside investments from Maza Ventures and through the a16z Scout programme.
📍 Founded in 2026 by Palestinian entrepreneur Issa Nassar, Databuddy Analytics develops an AI-powered product analytics platform that helps businesses identify conversion drops, customer friction and product issues through automated investigations and actionable insights.
🔗 Read the full story:
wamda.com/2026/10/databuddy-…
🇦🇪 UAE-based fintech startup CapQuest has raised $1 million in a pre-Seed funding round, led by Oraseya Capital and AMKM Family Office.
📍 Founded in 2023 by Antoine Bruna, Marco Banfi and Anvita Varshney, CapQuest operates an equity management platform that enables startups and established businesses to manage ownership structures, capitalisation tables, employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs), vesting schedules, fundraising transactions and shareholder communications.
🔗 Read the full story:
wamda.com/2026/10/capquest-c…
🇪🇬 Egypt-based proptech Aqar Exit has secured a $200,000 investment from businessman @Ayman_Abbas_, executive chairman of INTRO HOLDING Group, in exchange for a 10% stake, valuing the company at approximately $2 million (EGP 100 million).
📍 Founded in July 2026 by Dr. Mahmoud Ammar, Aqar Exit operates a real estate platform that enables property buyers struggling with instalment payments to transfer their purchase contracts to new buyers.
🔗 Read the full story:
wamda.com/2026/10/egyptian-p…
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🇪🇬 Egypt-based AI startup @Tactfulai has secured an undisclosed investment from Hatem Dowidar @hdowidar, former Group CEO of e&, as part of an extension to its pre-Series A round, initially announced in February 2026.
📍 Founded in 2016 by Mohamed Elmasry, Tactful AI develops an agentic AI-powered customer experience platform that enables businesses to manage customer interactions, automate workflows and analyse conversations across multiple channels.
🔗 Read the full story:
wamda.com/2026/10/tactful-ai…
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia-based fintech Vrtx has raised $3.6 million in a pre-Seed round, backed by SC Ventures by Standard Chartered @scventuresDNA, @SaduCapital, BYLD, @Suhail_ventures, @F6_Ventures, TAZ Investment and @Palmventuresco.
📍 Founded in 2025 by Mishal Bin Slimah and Omar Shaaban, Vrtx is building infrastructure that enables businesses to embed financial services including digital wallets, payouts, card issuance, transfers and transaction processing into their products.
🔗 Read the full story:
wamda.com/2026/10/saudi-vrtx…
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🇦🇪 UAE-based creative technology startup Popcorn AI Studio has secured a $1 million pre-seed funding package, led by Emirati entrepreneur and investor Mohammed Bin Bouta Alharsousi, to support product development and international expansion.
📍 Founded in 2026 by Shady Essam and Mohamed Hedar, Popcorn AI Studio operates an AI-powered video production platform that enables filmmakers, content creators, agencies and brands to produce cinematic content through an integrated workflow.
🔗 Read the full story:
wamda.com/2026/10/popcorn-ai…
