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Shorooq Partners leads $1.5mn round for Zyp Technologies
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Shorooq Partners leads $1.5mn round for Zyp Technologies
Abu Dhabi - Sharikat Mubasher: Shorooq Partners, a renowned alternative investment manager based in Abu Dhabi, led a $1.5 million pre-Series A funding round for Zyp Technologies, a leader in the sustainable transportation sector.The company will use
Waed Ventures participates in Rebellions’ $15mn Series B round
Riyadh - Sharikat Mubasher: Wa’ed Ventures, the venture arm of Aramco, participated in a $15 million Series B extension round for South Korean chipmaker Rebellions, marking its first deal in South Korea. The Korean company will utiliz
Okhtboot raises SAR 1 mn pre-seed round
Riyadh - Sharikat Mubasher: Okhtboot, the Saudi car care services provider, secured SAR one million in a pre-seed round with participation from angel investors, a recent statement revealed.Launched in 2023 by Lun Startup Studio and Ahmed Al-Issa, Okh
aiXplain secures $6.5mn pre-series A funding led by Saudi’s Wa’ed
Riyadh – Sharikat Mubasher: Saudi Arabia’s Wa’ed Ventures, backed by Aramco, has led the latest pre-Series A funding of aiXplain, a California-based AI platform, a round also included participation from several strategic angel investors.The startup’s subsidiary in Saudi Arabia will function as the company’s headquarters in the MENA region to drive growth in the Kingdom, according to a recent press release. Wa’ed Ventures will support localizing the company’s AI solutions in the Kingdom, as part of the region’s plan to position itself as the next global AI hub.aiXplain aims to use the funding to back the rollout of its agentic tooling solutions and simplify the process of building AI agents for local businesses with limited technical resources.The startup has been working with several regional AI organizations to build an alliance for Arabic LLM development, which will debut later this year. Since its inception in 2020, aiXplain has raised a total of $16.5 million.Commenting on this, Hassan Sawaf, Founder & CEO of aiXplain said: “Building practical AI solutions shouldn’t be reserved for big tech companies with extensive AI resources. There are so many AI assets available today—models, datasets, pipelines—but very little infrastructure making these assets readily accessible. aiXplan is changing that. AI has the potential to make a tangible difference for businesses around the world, and our latest financing will help us bring this vision to life.”Fahad Alidi, Managing Director and CEO at Wa’ed Ventures adds: “Hassan and his team deeply understand the global disparity in AI access and the potentially damaging effects of leaving this gap unaddressed. aiXplain has already helped close the AI innovation gap in the MENA region, and we see significant potential for the company to localize its solutions in the Kingdom.”Founded in 2020, aiXplain got its start as the innovation partner for organizations such as The Saudi Data & AI Authority (SDAIA) to accelerate AI innovation in the Gulf region. The company now works with businesses across the world to build AI solutions efficiently, as well as fine-tune and benchmark AI models.Users can leverage aiXplain's custom-built AI assets, and third-party assets from OpenAI, Google, AWS, Azure, and dozens of other AI technology providers. With a platform and marketplace that provides access and support for 40,000+ AI assets across more than 55 functions, pipelines, and tools, aiXplain is the most language-rich hub for AI assets in the world and one of the most expansive.
Saudi Arabia tops MENA VC activity again, seizes 54% of total funding
Riyadh - Sharikat Mubasher: Saudi Arabia continued to rank first across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) in terms of total venture capital (VC) funding during the first half (H1) of 2024 as the Kingdom seized 54% of the region’s total funding, up from 38% in H1-23.A recent report released by MAGNiTT in partnership with Saudi Venture Capital (SVC) showed that the Saudi VC ecosystem aggregated $412 million in funding in H1-24 across 63 deals, making a slight drop of 7% compared to H1-23.This decline was driven by a 55% year-on-year (YoY) drop in mega funding, while non-mega funding saw a YoY increase of 83% in H1-24.The Kingdom accounted for 30% of total deals across MENA in H1-24, up from 25% in the same period of 2023, securing the second spot after UAE which concluded 83 deals amounting to $225 million.The retail/e-commerce sector ranked first in Saudi Arabia, contributing 52% of the Kingdom's total funding in H1-24, down from a contribution of 81% in H1-23.The sector secured as much as $215 million in funding, showing a 40% drop compared to the same half of 2023, while the fintech sector raised $62 million in H1-24 signaling a significant YoY increase of 360%.Athary Almubarak, Chief Strategy Officer at SVC, commented: “The increasing participation of both local and international investors underscores the global confidence in Saudi Arabia's VC landscape. The rise in international investor interest highlights the Kingdom's growing reputation as a hub for innovation and high-growth potential.”Almubarak further affirmed that the trajectory of VC in Saudi Arabia appears exceedingly promising, backed by ongoing economic reforms, a burgeoning entrepreneurial ecosystem, increased foreign direct investments, and a growing pool of investable assets.
MENA startups secure $736mn in H1-24
Riyadh - Sharikat Mubasher: The startup ecosystem in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is flourishing as startups collected $736.7 million during the first half (H1) of 2024 across 248 deals, according to recent figures.A report released
SME Bank extends SAR 1 bn to foster 800 SMEs
Riyadh - Sharikat Mubasher: Saudi Arabia’s Small and Medium Enterprises Bank (SME Bank) has disbursed over SAR one billion to foster the growth of more than 800 SMEs since its inception until the end of January 2024, according to recent figures
Four Saudi firms secure $185mn in H1-24
Riyadh - Sharikat Mubasher: The first half (H1) of 2024 marked a significant milestone for four Saudi companies, as they collectively attracted around $185 million in various funding rounds. This influx of investments reflects the increasing investor
MSMEs secure SAR 293 bn credit facilities in Q1-24
Riyadh - Sharikat Mubasher: Micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Saudi Arabia received credit facilities worth SAR 293.4 billion during the first quarter (Q1) of 2024, representing 8.9% of total credit facilities, recent figures revealed.The monthly bulletin of the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) showed that banks provided the largest share of credit facilities at SAR 175.7 billion in Q1-24, while finance companies extended SAR 17.6 billion to MSMEs during the same quarter.Medium enterprises seized the largest share of total credit facilities at SAR 160.5 billion, followed by small enterprises that obtained facilities worth SAR 103.4 billion in Q1-24.Furthermore, micro-enterprises received credit facilities amounting to SAR29.3 billion during the first three months of 2024.It is worth noting that MSMEs in Saudi Arabia obtained credit facilities estimated at SAR 275.5 billion in Q4-23.
Sweply raises $2mn seed round
Riyadh - Sharikat Mubasher: Sweply, a social media management platform based in Saudi Arabia, secured $2 million in a seed round, with participation from 500 Global MENA and Salla, a recent statement unveiled.Sweply will dedicate the proceeds to cons