Last Week in Funding (5-11 February)

Last week, startups raised $17.18 million in disclosed funding, led by Saudi Arabia-based foodtech Anabolic, which secured $9 million in a seed round.

See our full roundup of investments and investor news below.

Saudi Anabolic Closes $9 Million Seed Round

Saudi Arabia-based foodtech Anabolic wrapped up a $9 million seed round to develop its technologies and accelerate its expansion in the Saudi market.

UAE’s Traveltech The Digital Hotelier Raises $200,000 in Investment

UAE-based traveltech The Digital Hotelier (TDH) raised $200,000 from Hope Ventures, the investment arm of Hope Fund in Bahrain, and Silicon Valley-based early-stage investor Plug and Play.

Kuwaiti Bookr Secures Undisclosed Bridge Round from Plus VC

Bookr, a Kuwaiti cloud-based SaaS-enabled marketplace facilitating salon, spa, grooming, and stylist bookings, wrapped up an undisclosed bridge round investment from Plus VC, a venture capital firm focusing on early-stage tech and tech-enabled startups in the MENA region.

UAE’s Boltable Studio Secures Strategic Funding from Chalhoub Group

Abu Dhabi-based Boltable Studio, a top-tier Roblox design studio, secured undisclosed strategic funding from Chalhoub Group.

Dubai-Based AI Dubbing Platform CAMB.AI Raises $4 Million

CAMB.AI, an artificial intelligence dubbing company headquartered in Dubai, secured $4 million in a seed funding round led by Courtside Ventures, a New York-based venture capital firm. The funding round is set to fuel CAMB.AI's growth.

Tunisian Cynoia Wraps Up $930,000 Funding Round

Tunisian team collaboration startup Cynoia raised $930,000 in funding earmarked for expanding its operations into the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), with a focus on Senegal and Ivory Coast.

Saudi PropTech Firm Rize Secures $2.9 Million in Seed Funding

Rize, a Saudi-based proptech startup, has concluded its seed funding round, raising $2.9 million. The startup has also secured additional funding through debt financing to further expand its presence in the real estate sector.

Iraqi Fintech Wayl Secures $150,000 Pre-Seed Funding Round

Wayl, an Iraq-based e-commerce enablement platform, closed a $150,000 pre-seed funding round from Abu Dhabi-based VC IQ-EQ.

Also worth noting:

Saudi Economy Aims for $1.7 Trillion Milestone Under Vision 2030

Saudi Arabian economy is expected to expand from $694 billion to $1.7 trillion under its Vision 2030 program.

Dubai Holding Starts Accepting Submissions for ‘Innovate for Tomorrow’

Dubai Holding, a multinational investment holding firm with operations in 13 countries, started receiving applications for the "Innovate for Tomorrow" Challenge.

Abu Dhabi Partners With Three Firms for Enhanced Clinical Research

Abu Dhabi's Department of Health (DoH), the regulatory body overseeing the emirate's healthcare sector, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Masdar City, Swiss biotech firm Xlife Sciences, and Thermo Fisher Scientific, a global leader dedicated to empowering scientific advancements for a healthier, cleaner, and safer world. The MoU aims to propel clinical research and clinical trials, as well as establish an ecosystem that nurtures life science start-ups in the emirate.

Abu Dhabi Wealth Fund ADIA Eyes Stake in Wanda Mall Unit

Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) is considering acquiring a minority stake in the mall operator owned by Dalian Wanda Group Co.

Middle Eastern Retail Giant LuLu Group Eyes $1 Billion IPO

The hypermarket chain LuLu Group International initiated discussions with banks to explore potential roles in a forthcoming initial public offering (IPO) anticipated to raise $1 billion.

UK-based Kazyon Limited Acquires 50% Stake in KSA’s Dukan

Kazyon Limited, the parent company of Kazyon, acquired 50% equity share capital in Saudi Arabian Dukan for SAR 250 million ($66.66 million), marking its entry into the Saudi grocery retail market.

Maqta Gateway Secures Majority Stake in Dubai Technologies

Maqta Gateway, the digital arm of AD Ports Group, clinched a 60% equity stake in Dubai Technologies, a developer of trade and transportation solutions.

Al Bustan Nurseries Acquires 10% Stake in Nabataty

Al Bustan Nurseries clinched a 10% stake in the Saudi-based online plant shop Nabataty.

PLAYBOOK Platform Acquires Women Spark

The Saudi-based female-focused edtech platform PLAYBOOK finalized the acquisition of Women Spark, a Saudi-based female angel collective.

Mubadala Invests in Manipal Health Enterprises

Mubadala Investment Company unveiled plans to invest in India's Manipal Health Enterprises.

AI in the news: 

QX Lab AI Launches Ask QX in Over 100 Languages

Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) QX Lab AI unveils Ask QX, the world's first hybrid generative AI platform.

Meta to Start Labeling AI-Generated Images from Companies

Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, unveiled plans to implement a strategy aimed at identifying and categorizing images produced by third-party artificial intelligence services.

Apple Unveils New AI Image Tool

Tech giant Apple introduced a new AI tool called Multimodal Large Language Model-Guided Image Editing (MGIE).

Google Launches AI Q&A Series for MENA Region

Google rolled out a new short video series tailored to address the most searched questions about AI on its platform in the Middle East and North Africa. The 6-part series, presented in Arabic, seeks to debunk common misconceptions surrounding AI and will be hosted by popular Saudi content creator Abdullah AlAlawi.