Dtec Ventures brings you a roundup of the startup news from the GCC Ecosystem for the month of October 2018:
HIGHLIGHTS
- Dtec Ventures Portfolio company, Qordoba, raises $11.5 million Series B Funding
- Forbes’ Top 100 Startups in the Middle East includes the following Dtec Ventures portfolio companies: Yallacompare, 360Vuz, STEP Group, Nabbesh, Geeks and Melltoo
- KSA’s Public investment Fund (PIF) set to make another $45 billion investment in Softbank’s $100 billion Vision Fund II
- Raed Venture launches Raed Plus, a set of programs to provide its portfolio with value-add (free or discounted) services from 25 partner firms
- ADGM launches their Entrepreneurship Support Programme offering an array of business services to ADGM-registered entrepreneurs
- Dubai launches world’s first government-backed cryptocurrency via emcash, a digital currency launched by state-backed subsidiary of Dubai Department of Economic Development
- Jordan’s Arab Bank to launch $30 million fintech venture fund to be deployed in bank-relevant technologies
INVESTMENTS | MENA-BASED STARTUPS
- Careem (ride-haling app, UAE) – $200 million, Series F, from existing investors incl. Prince Alwaleed bin Talal
- Wadi (grocery delivery platform, KSA) – $30 million, strategic investment by Majid Al Futtaim
- Unifonic (cloud communications platform, KSA) – $21 million, Series A, from STV, Raed Ventures, et al
- Mumzworld (e-commerice, UAE) – $20 million Series B, from Gulf Islamic Investments
- Blueground (hospitality-tech, UAE) – $12 million, from Jabbar Internet Group, VentureFriends and Endeavor
- Pure Harvent (agritech, UAE) – $1.5 million from Mohd bin Rashid Innovation Fund
- Snapbook (photo printing, Kuwait) – $1.5 million, Seed Round, from Faith Capital
- Training Calendar (learning experience platform, UAE) – $1 million, Seed round, from angels
- iCommunity (mobile community platform, Egypt) – $600K Seed round, from Algebra Ventures
- Smart Crowd (real estate crowdfunding platform, UAE) – $600K, Seed round, from Shorooq Investments et.al.
- HitchHiker (P2P travel social network, Egypt) – $200K, Seed round, from Angels
- AnaMehani (online services marketplace, Egypt) – undisclosed amount, Seed, from V.P.F. Limited
- Helpling (household services marketplace, UAE) – undisclosed amount from Tamedia AG
- Kitopi (smart kitchen network, UAE) – undisclosed amount, Seed round, from CE Ventures and BECO Capital
INVESTMENTS | MENA-FOUNDED STARTUPS
- Qordoba (UX content management platform, UAE) – $11.5 million, Series B, from Aspect Ventures et.al
- Wahed (investing platform, USA) – $8 million, from Cue Ball Capital, BECO and existing investors
- Fakespot (product review authentication, USA) – undisclosed amount from Faith Capital
INVESTMENTS | INSIGHTS
Startup directory and investment data platform, Magnitt.com released their Q3 2018 MENA Venture Investment report with the following insights:
- Amount invested in MENA-based startups in Q3 2018 was roughly on par with Q2 2018, as $82M was invested across 62 deals. Dtec Ventures Portfolio company The Luxury Closet makes it to the Top 5 Deals in the quarter
- UAE has largest share of startup deals (29%) and investment amount (61%) YTD, with the emergence of the Egyptian, Lebanese, Jordanian, and Saudi Arabian ecosystems
- 2018 YTD most active venture capital investors were 500 Startups (28), MEVP (12) Arzan Capital (9) based on number of investments
STARTUP & VC NEWS
- Careem prefers to stay independent despite acquisition offers by Uber and Chinese firm Didi Chuxing
- Shorooq Investments partners with Plug N Play ADGM to accelerate tech innovation in Abu Dhabi and broader MENA region
- UAE-based health tech startup Health at Hand wins a spot in the U.S. based Blackbox Connect founder accelerator program
- New angel investment network, Falcon Network, focuses on early stage startups in Muslim-majority markets in Asia and Africa including UAE
CO-WORKING
- Arab Bank to open their Innovation Hub, a 950 sqm fintech focused co-creation facility in Amman, Jordan
- KIZAD launches Entrepreneurship and Incubation Centre for SMEs to set up business starting at AED13,000
ACCELERATOR / INCUBATOR
- Jordan’s Arab Bank to open AB Accelerator Program in December for fintech startups
- AMEX Middle East partners with corporate innovation specialist Nest to launch ACCELERATE ME accelerator program in Bahrain
- Chalhoub launches retail-tech accelerator The Greenhouse located in D3
- Iraq’s first Tech-Entrepreneurship Academy graduates its first cohort of 7 companies
- Badir Technology Incubator contributes SR 2.1 billion to Saudi economy cumulatively from 2010-2017
UPCOMING EVENTS
- ME Conference on Business Angel Investment, 01-02 Nov, Egypt
- Tenmou’s MENA Angels Summit , 12 Nov, Bahrain
- Driving Innovation in the Retail Industry, 12 Nov, UAE
- Synergy University Russia Dtec Tour, 14 Nov, Dtec
- Global WIL Economic Forum, 14-15 Nov, UAE
- Startup Weekend Women Edition, 15-17 Nov, Dtec
- Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival, 20-21 Nov, UAE
- Global Blockchain Foundation, 21-22 Nov, UAE
- BlockOn, Reengineering Finance, 22 Nov, UAE
- startAD Youth Entrepreneurship Workshop, 25 Nov, Dtec
- 1st Global Islamic Fintech Huddle 2018, 26 Nov, Bahrain
- Blockchain Summit Dubai 2018, 27 Nov, UAE
- Dtec Mixer: Blockchain Meetup, 28 Nov, Dtec
- Huawei Developer Day, TBC, Dtec
ARTICLES WORTH READING
- Zawya: Dubai becomes world’s first city to enable investors start business from remote locations
- EntrepreneurME: Why Startup Hotspots Around The World Can’t Match The UAE For Global Appeal
- FastCompany: How a Middle East startup took on Uber – and won
- Wamda: Deciphering the fintech boom in the Middle East