Last week, there were 9 startup investments in the MENA between December 15 – 21:
Investments:
5 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), 2 Egypt, 2 United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Sectors Received Investments:
3 Financial Services
1 Health Care
1 Data
1 SaaS / Human Resources
1 Education
1 Marketplace
1 Software / Sustainability
News of the Week
🎯 Shopping and payments platform Tamara raised $340 million.
Tamara, a buy now pay later platform that enables customers yo pay in installments, has raised $340 million in Series C funding round with $1 billion valuation, co-led by SNB Capital and Sanabil Investments. Shorooq Partners, Pinnacle Capital, Impulse, Coatue, Endeavor Catalyst and Checkout.com also participated in the investment round.
Transaction Type: Investment
Investors: SNB Capital, Sanabil Investments, Shorooq Partners, Pinnacle Capital, Impulse, Coatue, Endeavor Catalyst, Checkout.com
Co-founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah, Abdulmohsen Albabtain
Headquarters: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA)
🎯 Open banking platform Spare raised $3 million.
Spare, an open banking platform that businesses to access their customers’ financial data to create new products, has raised $3 million. The investment round was led by Vision Ventures, with participation from Wa’ed Ventures, Seedra Ventures, 500 Global and angel investors.
Transaction Type: Investment
Investors: Vision Ventures, Wa’ed Ventures, Seedra Ventures, 500 Global, angel investors
Co-founders: Dalal Alrayes
Headquarters: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA)
🎯 Savings platform Hakbah raised $5.1 million.
Hakbah, a savings platform that allows users to save and access funds via social savings, has raised $5.1 million in Series A funding round, led by VentureSouq. M-Capital, Bunat Ventures, Global Ventures and Aditum Investment Management also participated in the investment round.
Transaction Type: Investment
Investors: VentureSouq, M-Capital, Bunat Ventures, Global Ventures, Aditum Investment Management
Co-founders: Naif AbuSaida
Headquarters: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA)
🎯 E-pharmacy platform Chefaa raised $5.25 million.
Chefaa, a e-pharmacy platform that provides an end-to-end healthcare experience, has raised $5.25 million. The investment round was co-led by Newton Partners and Global Brain, with participation from GMS Capital Partners, Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures and M3.
Transaction Type: Investment
Investors: Newtown Partners, Global Brain, GMS Capital Partners, Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures, M3
Co-founders: Rasha Rady, Doaa Are
Headquarters: Egypt
🎯 Analytics platform Trends raised $1 million.
Trends, which offers businesses a detailed understanding of market dynamics, consumer trends, and preferences by transforming user data into valuable insights, has raised $1 million from several investors from DIFC Innovation Hub.
Transaction Type: Investment
Investors: Investors from DIFC Innovation Hub
Co-founders: Mary Queenie
Headquarters: United Arab Emirates (UAE)
🎯 AI-powered SaaS platform Velents raised funding.
Velents, an AI recruiter that can filter candidates’ CVs, interview them, and assess their language, skills and coding capabilities, has raised an undisclosed investment in Seed funding round. The investment round was led by A15, with participation from Nibras Capital, AUC Venture Lab and several local investors.
Transaction Type: Investment
Investors: A15, Nibras Capital, AUC Venture Lab, other investors
Co-founders: Mohamed Gaber, Abdulaziz Almuhaydib
Headquarters: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA)
🎯 Online coding platform iSchool raised $4.5 million.
iSchool, which offers live gamified classes led by coding instructors, catering to students aged 6-18, has raised $4.5 million, led by VentureWave Capital. OneStop UK, Webit Investment Network and Oraseya Capital also participated in the investment round.
Transaction Type: Investment
Investors: VentureWave Capital, OneStop UK, Webit Investment Network, Oraseya Capital
Co-founders: Muhammad Gawish, Ibrahim Abdullah, Mustafa Abdelmon’em
Headquarters: Egypt
🎯 C2C marketplace Soum raised $18 million.
Soum, a marketplace that enables SMEs and individuals to sell their secondhand products, has raised $18 million in Series A funding round. The investment round was led by Jahez, with participation from Isometry Capital, Khwarizmi Ventures, Alrajhi Partners and Outliers Venture Capital.
Transaction Type: Investment
Investors: Jahez, Isometry Capital, Khwarizmi Ventures, Alrajhi Partners, Outliers Venture Capital
Co-founders: Fahad Al Hassan, Fahad Albassam, Bader Almubarak
Headquarters: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA)
🎯 Carbon management platform Zeroe raised $2.2 million.
Zeroe, which allows companies to measure emissions and report on decarbonisation performance through an ai-powered carbon management platform, has raised $2.2 million in Seed funding round from Indonesian investor Owen Rahadiyan.
Transaction Type: Investment
Investors: Owen Rahadiyan
Co-founders: Farouk Jivani, Ali Najafian
Headquarters: United Arab Emirates (UAE)
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