GCC
Project Suppliers Secures $1M Pre-Seed to Build AI Cash Flow Tools for Saudi Construction
- Project Suppliers closed a $1M (SAR 3.75M) pre-seed round from undisclosed angel investors to transition from a B2B procurement marketplace to a financial intelligence platform. - The Riyadh-based startup will leverage operational data from its 600,000 historical RFQs to develop AI-driven predictive cash flow and financing tools for the construction and MEP sectors. - The funding aims to address chronic liquidity constraints and delayed settlement cycles plaguing contractors involved in Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 infrastructure initiatives. - Following the domestic rollout of its new fintech suite, the company plans a regional expansion across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) market.
Kuwaiti Edtech Dawraty Raises $2M Seed at $10M Valuation for Institutional Platform
• Funding: Dawraty secured a $2M seed round featuring Qatar Development Bank, establishing a $10M valuation. • Product: AI-powered infrastructure for delivering and tracking accredited bilingual (Arabic/English) education across healthcare, certifications, and exam prep. • Go-to-Market: Operates a pure B2B model, acquiring users exclusively through institutional master partnerships and reseller agreements rather than direct-to-consumer sales. • Traction: Live in Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and Jordan, with current clients including Kuwait University, University of Bahrain, and Johns Hopkins.
FlyAkeed Secures $25.15M to Build the Financial Operating System for Saudi Corporate Travel
• **The Deal:** FlyAkeed secured SAR 94.3M ($25.15M) in growth funding, blending venture equity led by PIF-owned Sanabil Investments with a Murabaha sukuk facility spearheaded by Artal Capital. • **Strategic Pivot:** The capital injection funds a transition from pure-play SaaS to fintech, launching an embedded deferred-payment product that allows enterprise clients to optimize corporate travel cash flows. • **Market Opportunity:** Positioned to capture a rapidly digitizing Saudi business travel market that surpassed $10B in 2024 and is projected to double over the next decade. • **Current Traction:** The platform currently operates as the centralized mobility operating system for 150+ major Saudi organizations, including PIF, Maaden, and the National Housing Company.
Saudi AI Developer HUMAIN Invests in Arabic.AI to Build Enterprise Language Models
• HUMAIN invested an undisclosed sum in Arabic.AI, partnering with Tarjama to build production-ready Arabic AI tools for the enterprise market. • The joint venture integrates HUMAIN's localized compute infrastructure with Arabic.AI’s domain-specific language models and Tarjama's enterprise delivery pipeline. • Initial product deployment targets three verticals: centralized translation management via the Cleverso platform, legacy archive digitization, and compliance-focused document intelligence. • The transaction marks a strategic progression in Saudi Arabia’s AI strategy, advancing from hardware and data center investments to the software application layer. • Early enterprise client implementations begin immediately, with a full commercial rollout scheduled for LEAP 2026.
Saudi Software Startup Remedium Raises $1.5M Pre-Seed to Localize Environmental Tracking
- Remedium secured $1.5M in pre-Seed funding led by Kaltaire Investments to upgrade its environmental tracking software. - Capital will fund the development of predictive AI models for physical-risk forecasting and automated compliance reporting. - The startup is expanding its platform to track water, waste, and energy metrics alongside carbon emissions. - Remedium will invest heavily in localizing its server infrastructure within Saudi Arabia to guarantee data sovereignty for enterprise and government clients.
Saudi Retail Tech Startup Raff Raises $1.7M Pre-Seed to Digitize Offline Distribution
• Saudi retail tech startup Raff closed a $1.7M pre-seed round led by Vision Ventures, with backing from 500 Global and Palm VC. • The platform centralizes and digitizes fragmented distribution workflows, connecting online-first brands directly with offline retailers. • Raff integrates with POS and accounting software to automate inventory, fulfillment, and vendor management in the $300B GCC retail sector. • Founded in 2024, the company currently facilitates physical retail operations for over 900 brands across nine countries. • Capital will fund GCC expansion, core product development, and the integration of AI capabilities.
Saudi EdTech AILA Secures $3M Pre-Series A to Scale Adaptive Learning Engine
<ul> <li>Riyadh-based AILA closed a $3M Pre-Series A led by RUA Growth Fund to scale its AI-driven adaptive learning platform.</li> <li>Jordanian digital education leader Jo Academy joined as a strategic investor, providing localized market access and institutional sales expertise.</li> <li>The capital will fund the transition from AI-driven standardized test prep (Qudurat, Tahsili) to broad educational infrastructure across multiple international markets.</li> <li>AILA enters this growth phase with 95,000 active users, 30 enterprise clients, and an overarching thesis of shifting EdTech from digitized content to dynamic, personalized assessment.</li> </ul>
PIF-Backed HUMAIN Invests in Enterprise AI Developer MOZN to Target Regulated Industries
• HUMAIN Ventures executed its first investment in a Saudi startup, backing Riyadh-based enterprise AI firm MOZN to target the highly regulated BFSI sector. • The joint venture replaces complex cloud dependencies by merging HUMAIN’s local data centers and base models with MOZN’s compliance software and on-site engineering teams. • The companies will co-develop sovereign AI applications focused on financial crime prevention, knowledge intelligence, and risk automation. • Initial enterprise deployments will debut at LEAP Riyadh, targeting a global banking AI market projected to generate up to $340 billion in annual value.
Saudi Construction Tech Startup Fitting Raises $1.1M to Digitize Procurement
• Fitting, a Saudi ConTech startup founded in 2025, raised a $1.1M second seed round from an undisclosed strategic real estate investor. • The platform centralizes construction procurement, enabling contractors to order materials and track deliveries directly with suppliers. • The strategic investor provides direct market access and operational insight to help tailor the software to actual site bottlenecks. • Capital will fund geographic expansion within Saudi Arabia, technical infrastructure upgrades, and local engineering hires in alignment with Vision 2030.
Majestic Mind Games Raises $1.45 Million to Export Saudi-Developed PC Games
• Majestic Mind Games secured a $1.45M seed round co-led by Merak Capital and Impact46, with additional backing from NEOM. • The 2023-founded Jeddah studio bypasses localized content to export original PC, console, and mobile titles to global markets. • Funds will directly capitalize the transition from single-game prototyping to a sustained, multi-title production pipeline.
MedIQ Secures $6M Series A to Export Healthtech Infrastructure to the Gulf
- **The Deal:** MedIQ raised $6M in a Series A led by Rasmal Ventures and Joa Capital, pushing total funding to $9.8M. - **The Milestone:** Reached EBITDA-positive status before closing the Series A, driven by a B2B model targeting hospitals, insurers, and government agencies rather than individual consumers. - **The Strategy:** Validated its healthcare operating system in low-margin Pakistan before expanding into Saudi Arabia’s SAR 7.2B healthtech market, serving over 10M patients since 2023. - **The Market Shift:** Captured the largest share of Pakistan’s 2025 startup funding, driving a trend where female-founded startups secured 8 of the 11 disclosed equity rounds for the year.
QIIB Takes Strategic Stake in Qatari Payment Provider SkipCash
• **The Deal:** Qatar International Islamic Bank (QIIB) executed a strategic investment in B2B payments startup SkipCash; financial terms remain undisclosed. • **Traction Metrics:** SkipCash processed over QAR 1 billion in 2025 transaction volume and manages a portfolio of 10,000+ active merchants. • **Market Position:** The company operates in the merchant technology sector, providing gateways, SoftPOS, and acquiring services rather than consumer applications. • **Capital Stack:** This investment builds on a recent $4M Series A backed by Qatar Development Bank alongside local venture and corporate investors. • **Strategic Outlook:** SkipCash will utilize the funds for GCC geographic expansion and merchant product development, signaling a trend of legacy Islamic banks utilizing domestic startups to accelerate digital merchant solutions.
UAE and Saudi Investors Back Syrian Super App Labby with $10 Million
• **Investment:** Syria-based Labby secured $10M from UAE and Saudi investors, logging the first direct foreign venture funding for a local tech startup. • **Product model:** Founded by Mohammad Fawaz in 2024, the platform bundles ride-hailing, food delivery, e-commerce, and payments to lower customer acquisition costs and drive daily user habits. • **Capital deployment:** The startup will allocate the fresh capital to hire engineers, upgrade its software architecture, and expand its footprint across the domestic market. • **Sector impact:** The transaction proves Gulf investors will back local founders in highly restricted business environments, setting a new precedent for the Syrian tech community. • **Strategic goal:** The platform aims to modernize local commerce by transitioning everyday offline consumer transactions onto digital payment rails.
UAE Startup Bundle Secures $5.5M Pre-Seed to Pool Brand Loyalty Rewards
* **Funding & Leadership:** UAE-based Bundle raised $5.5M in pre-seed capital, led by Ethereal Ventures and Further Ventures, to restructure retail customer loyalty mechanics. * **Core Mechanism:** Consolidates marketing spend from multiple SMEs into shared reward pools, replacing low-value, standalone cashback offers with aggregated, higher-value prizes to lower customer acquisition costs. * **Infrastructure:** Operates on stablecoin rails for cross-border settlement and compliance, fully abstracting Web3 complexity behind a traditional Web2 user interface. * **Market Traction:** A five-market pilot yielded up to a 4x conversion increase for participating brands; upcoming rollout targets Southeast Asia with a starting coalition of 50 partners.
Riyadh’s Ash Games Secures $1.5M Seed to Export Arabian Mythology
• **The Deal:** Ash Games Studio secured a $1.5M Seed round co-led by Merak Capital and Impact46 via the Merak Gaming Fund. • **Core Strategy:** The studio focuses exclusively on creating original intellectual property (IP) and building franchises, eschewing outsourced or contract development work. • **Product Pipeline:** The primary title, *Nomad: The Legend of Zarqa* (action-adventure roguelite), targets a 2027 release across PC, PlayStation, and Xbox. • **Market Positioning:** The investment signals a broader domestic push to transform Saudi Arabia from a high-growth consumer gaming market into a creator and exporter of globally competitive interactive media.