Dtec Ventures brings you a roundup of the startup news from the GCC Ecosystem for the month of September 2018:
HIGHLIGHTS
- Microsoft and BECO Capital enter strategic partnership to support early stage-startups
- Intelak holds Selection Day for their 4th Cohort on 29th September for their 3-month long incubation program.
- Yallacompare launches in Kuwait as the first online insurance comparison platform in the country
- Japan’s SoftBank Group opens offices in Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia to help its portfolio enter ME market
- ADGM launches digital sandbox, comparable to RegLab of DIFC. The sandbox will provide a marketplace for open collaboration between financial institutions, fintech firms, and regulators to facilitate testing and adoption of innovative digital financial product
- Sawari Ventures to launch $50 million fintech-focused VC fund by year-end 2018
- Jordan launches $98 million fund called The Innovative Startups and SMEs Fund, to invest in 200 companies across tech, media, telecom, agribusiness, pharmaceuticals and service sectors.
- TPAY, a direct carrier billing (DCB) provider in MENA gets acquired by Africa-based Helios Investment Partners
INVESTMENTS
- Vezeeta (medical care scheduling platform, Egypt) – $12 million Series C, from STV, BECO, Silicon Badia et al.
- Myki (password manager application, Lebanon) – $4 million Series A, from BECO, Leap Ventures
- ServiceMarket (online services marketplace, UAE) – $4 million Series B, from AddVenture and Emaar Industries
- TruKKer (truck aggregator, UAE) – $2.7 million Series A, led by OTF Jasoor Ventures
- VVIP (social network app, UAE) – $2.5 million, Seed, from Pecunio
- Enova (smart robots manufacturer, Tunisia) – $1.6 million, undisclosed investors
- Monami Tech (fintech payments, UAE) – $1 million Seed, led by PGH Holdings
- Elkrem (hardware blockchain, Egypt) – $75,000 additional Seed funding, from Tachyon Blockchain Accelerator
- Vidmass (video creation platform, Palestine) – undisclosed amount, Pre-Seed, from Ibtikar Fund and Vision VC
- Aqarmap (real estate marketplace, Egypt) – undisclosed amount, from Wamda, KISP Ventures & Raed Ventures
- Buseet (transport tech, Egypt) – undisclosed amount, Seed, from Cairo Angels, 500 Startups, and angels
- Freshsource (B2B agricultural marketplace, Egypt) – undisclosed amount, Seed, from HIMAngel
- Repzo (mobile CRM, Jordan) – undisclosed amount, Seed, from Jabbar Internet Group and angels
- Yallaplay (social game developer, Lebanon) – undisclosed amount, Growth, from IM Capital and Berytech Fund II
INVESTMENTS INSIGHTS
Startup directory and investment data platform, Magnitt.com released their H1 2018 Notable Exits, top 3 of which are below:
- H1 2018 saw 10 startups in the MENA region reach an exit deal, all of which were undisclosed in terms acquisition price
- Top acquirers were: Dubbizle and Gulf Capital, both of which made 2 deals in the first half of 2018.
STARTUP & VC NEWS
- Uber in early talks to acquire Careem (UAE) and Deliveroo (UK)
- Careem launches its services in Khartoum, Sudan; ventures into mass transport in India as it acquires local bus shuttle service app Commut
- Tamkeen and MITEF sends 7 Bahraini startups to Silicon Valley as part of “The Silicon Valley Program”
- UAE Securities and Communities Authority (SCA) issues resolution to regulate control of fintech
- UAE startup Justmop.com expands to Kuwait
ACCELERATOR / INCUBATOR
- Sheraa launches second hub at University of Sharjah
- MINT Incubator, financed by Egyptian Gulf Bank, selects 12 companies for their latest cohort.
- Plug N Play announces they will deploy capital in 2019 to invest in local startups more proactively
- ADGM selects 10 fintech startups for its third RegLab cohort
- Accelerators / Incubators Applications Deadline:
- Wadi Accelerator Cohort II (Oman) – 1 Oct
- Techstars Dubai Accelerator – 14 Oct
- C3 Social Impact Accelerator – 15 Oct
- Flat6Labs Beirut – 18 Oct
CO-WORKING
- Egypt co-working space Al-Maqarr receives funding from Cairo Angels (angel investor network)
UPCOMING EVENTS
- Bahrain Tech Week, 28 Sep-07 Oct, Bahrain
- MITEF Innovation Forum, 01 Oct, Bahrain
- Facebook MENA Tech Week, 01-03 Oct, Lebanon
- TechCrunch Startup Battlefield MENA 2018, 03 Oct, Lebanon
- Women Who Lead, 05-06 Oct, Dubai
- Global Innovation Summit, 11 Oct, Dubai
- Dubai Women Empowerment Summit, 12-13 Oct, Dubai
- GITEX Technology Week, 14-18 Oct, Dubai
- Bahrain Tech Awards, 14 Oct, Dubai
- Blockchain for Industries Seminar, 16 Oct, Dubai (Dtec)
- Blockchain Developer Program, 17 Oct, Lebanon
- Demo Africa Conference, 18-19 Oct, Morocco
- SMARTup, 20 Oct, Dubai
- StartupIstanbul, 19-22 Oct, Turkey
- Arabian Business Startup Awards, 23 Oct, Dubai
- World Blockchain Summit, 24-25 Oct, Dubai
- Fintech Industry Forum 2018, 31 Oct, Bahrain
- Dtec Mixer, 31 Oct, Dubai (Dtec)
ARTICLES WORTH READING