Startup Ecosystem Newsletter | May 2019

Dtec Ventures with d in yellow with startup ecosystem news May 2019.

As we welcome summer’s scorching heat, the month of May also has some really interesting happenings in the startup space. Partnerships, acquisition and much more in the news bits below

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Intelak completes its Cohort 5 with a demo day and Iftar. The winners of the cohort include: Avendi (travel recommendation chatbot), Bonflite (Duty-free items purchase and collection solution), Cargonow (logistics transportation solution) and Hotel Data Cloud (hotel data & content management)
  • WeWork, the largest coworking space company of the world is coming to the MENA region. It plans to open its first location in Dubai by Q4 2019
  • ADFG, GS Shop (South Korea online retailer) and 500 Startups sign an MoU to develop and launch “500 Spaces” a platform for innovation hubs and coworking spaces. Abu Dhabi based Krypto Labs will provide operating expertise. 500 Spaces will launch a $100 million fund to develop and scale the 500 Spaces coworking business model across different regions including the Middle East, the United States, Asia, Europe and North Africa.
  • Abu Dhabi launches $145.6 million Ghadan Ventures Fund which has two programs: a startup matching fund and a new fund manager’s fund. Both aim to grow business and VCs set up in Abu Dhabi. The fund will be managed by state-owned Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO).
  • Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) is teaming up with Careem, to launch an app-based bike rental service, and will operate 3,500 bicycles at 350 stations in Dubai. Later in May, Careem announces its acquisition of Abu-Dhabi based bike-sharing service, Cyacle.

INVESTMENTS| GCC-BASED STARTUPS

  • Mawdoo3.com (online Arabic content publisher, Jordan) – $10 million, Series B final closing, from Kingsway Capital et al
  • Kitab Sawti (Arabic audio platform, Sweden / UAE) – $6 million, Series A, from Bonnier Ventures, et al
  • Udrive (car rental app, UAE) – $5 million Series B, from undisclosed investors
  • Trukkin (long haul trucking solution, KSA / UAE) – $3.5 million, undisclosed round, from AL-Namlah Family group et al
  • The Luxury Closet (pre-loved luxury ecommerce, UAE) – $2.3 million, Series C 2nd closing, from Knuru Capital
  • Red Sea Farms (agritech, KSA) – $1.9 million, Seed round, from KAUST Innovation Fund et al
  • eMushrif (smart transport, Oman) – $1 million, Pre-Series A from Phaze Ventures, et al
  • Resal (gifting platform, KSA) – $800,000, Pre-Series A, led by BIAC Incubators
  • Little Thinking Minds (elearning, Jordan) – $500,000, Series A 2nd closing, from ISSF (Jordan)
  • DigitaSport (marketing & engagement, Jordan) – undisclosed amount, Seed round, from Oasis500
  • NewBridge Fintech Solutions (fintech, UAE) – undisclosed amount, Pre-Series A, from BRS Ventures Investment

STARTUP NEWS

  • Careem launched direct bus services from Jeddah to Makkah, with rides 60% cheaper than typical ride hailing services
  • Careem acquires UAE-based bike sharing service, Cyacle, which currently operates in Abu Dhabi.
  • Dubai-based Majid Al Futtaim has acquired Saudi online grocery delivery platform, Wadi.com
  • Fetchr’s Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer, Joy Ajlouny, leaves the company, capping her 5 year stint with the logistics & delivery solutions startup
  • Airbnb announces their services (web and mobile app) will soon be available in Arabic to become more accessible to travelers and hosts from MENA region
  • Amazon leads a $575 million (Dh2.1 billion) investment in UK-based food delivery startup Deliveroo’s Series G funding round
  • Deliveroo and McDonald’s UAE complete the UAE’s first ever hot air balloon delivery to a Dubai desert safari

VC NEWS

  • Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp is in talks with Oman for the latter to invest in SoftBank’s $100 billion Vision Fund. Current Gulf investors in the Fund include KSA’s Public Investment Fund and UAE’s Mubadala which has committed $15 billion to the fund
  • Bahrain-based Al Waha Fund of Funds turns a year old and investment of half of its $100 million fund in 5 funds across the region including BECO, MEVP, 500Startups and Finch Capital.

COWORKING

  • Tecom Group partners with Dubai Development Authority and the Dubai Future Foundation for the latter to introduce startup members to the in5 platform, which will provide simplified business set up and access to creative co-working spaces

ACCELERATOR / INCUBATOR

  • StartechEUS FinHub is launches operations in Lebanon as a FinTech accelerator / incubator and offering seed funding of $100K to $2M for Series A
  • Kuwait based business incubator Cubical Services partners with Microsoft for the latter to provide access for selected businesses to its Microsoft for Start-ups program.
  • Dubai Smart City Accelerator opens applications for global startups for its third cohort
  • 12 of the top startup accelerators and incubators from 11 different countries in the Middle East and North Africa have partnered together, creating a new network of support and resources for their portfolio companies. Womena from UAE joins the partnership
  • Jordan’s first AgriTech Accelerator, HASSAD, launches as a 3 month accelerator program. It is now open for applications to find 15 startups for its first cohort.
  • Telecoms provider Zain Bahrain and Alkeri Partners launch first phase of “Zainnovate” initiative launching GenerationS Accelerator together with the Russian Venture Company (RVC)

UPCOMING EVENTS& DEADLINES

  • ArabNet Launchpad Forum – 12-13 June, Lebanon
  • AWSome Day Dubai (UAE) – 16 June, Dubai
  • Deadline to apply | Dubai Smart City Accelerator – 30 June

ARTICLES WORTH READING