Startup Wrap – Egyptian firms secure funding to boost Saudi expansions after battling stagnation 

Egyptian startups have secured sizeable investments. Shutterstock
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Updated 27 April 2024
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Startup Wrap – Egyptian firms secure funding to boost Saudi expansions after battling stagnation 

CAIRO: Startups in Egypt have started to gain momentum with several ventures securing funding to boost expansion efforts to the Kingdom. 

Following a period of startup funding stagnation, Egyptian founders have made their way back to the regional venture capital space with a flurry of investment deals and expansion strategies already in place. 

Egyptian fintech startup Waffarha has secured a seven-figure seed round from Value Makers Studio to expand its footprint.  

Founded in 2012 by Tarek Magdy, the platform offers significant discounts, with daily deals ranging from 50 percent to 90 percent.  

The new capital will enable Waffarha to enhance its technology, recruit talent, and expand into Saudi Arabia and additional markets.   

Moreover, in 2018, Fawry for Banking Technology and Electronic Payments, one of Egypt’s largest financial institutions, acquired a share of 30 percent of the company. 

The company claims to boast a network of over 1,000 merchants and over 3,000 stores that cater to more than 5 million customers, without any subscription fees.  

Over the last 12 years, Waffarha claims to have emerged as a top-tier lifestyle website and mobile app.  

Egyptian HR tech startup Bluworks secures $1m in pre-seed funding 

Bluworks, an HR and Software-as-a-Service solutions provider based in Egypt, has raised $1 million in pre-seed funding led by Khawarizmi Ventures and included Camel Ventures, Acasia Ventures, and angel investors.  

Founded in 2022 by Farah Osman, Hussein Wahdan, and Nour Ahmadein, Bluworks aims to optimize costs for businesses through data-driven decision-making.  

“With so many HR softwares on the market, not one is built to manage blue-collar workers,” Wahdan said.  

“Since the process of managing this type of workforce is so manual, errors frequently occur, leading to penalties and deducted salaries with no oversight from the workers, causing them to leave and ultimately contributing to high turnover rates,” he added. 

“Currently, companies can spend about 7-10 days just closing their payroll accounts, but with Bluworks, this time can be cut down to one day - all while leveraging data and insights on their workforce,” he stated. 

The company aims to utilize the funding to support its product development goals, expand its presence, and grow its team.   

Egypt-based fintech Bokra closes $4.6m pre-seed funding round  




Bokra was founded in 2023 by Ayman El-Sawy. Supplied

Bokra, an emerging fintech startup from Egypt, has secured $4.6 million in pre-seed funding, led by DisrupTech Ventures and SS Capital.  

Founded in 2023 by Ayman El-Sawy, Bokra offers diversified investment solutions for retail and SME investors.  

The funds will support the launch of the Bokra app, expansion of its investment products, and scaling operations across the Middle East and North Africa region.   

“We are dedicated to accelerating financial inclusion and elevating investment awareness across MENA,” El-Sawy said. 

“In a region where financial needs and aspirations are ever-changing, Bokra is poised to become the preferred investment platform for both individuals and small and medium-sized enterprises looking to diversify their fractional ownership portfolio in a simple, trackable and informed way,” he added. 

Egyptian startups win big in Saudi-Egyptian program 

Ten Egyptian startups have received awards from the VMS Bridge program, aimed at enhancing connections between Egypt and Saudi Arabia’s entrepreneurial ecosystems.  

Winners included Amanleek, Farhy, Sprints, Career180, and Jamaykaa, which will explore investment opportunities during a 4-day visit to the Kingdom.

Other winners, Notchnco and Neqabty, received free company licenses in Saudi Arabia, and AgriCash, ReNile, and ICareer won access to Arweqah’s training programs.   

Jordan-based healthtech startup Arab Therapy secures $1m seed funding 

Arab Therapy, a Jordan-based mental health platform, has raised $1 million in seed funding, led by Flat6Labs and Vision Health Pioneers, with participation from international angel investors. 

Founded in 2021 by Tareq Dalbah, Omar Koudsi, and Hekmat Al-Hasi, Arab Therapy connects users with licensed mental health professionals.  

The investment will facilitate the company’s market expansion and the initiation of business to business sales operations. 

TVM Capital Healthcare invests $17m in Neurocare Group AG 

TVM Capital Healthcare, based in the UAE, has invested $17 million into Neurocare Group AG, a Munich-headquartered healthtech specializing in personalized mental healthcare.  

The investment will support Neurocare’s expansion plans in the US and Saudi Arabia and fund the development of new hardware and software innovations, enhancing their clinical solutions. 

UAE-based logistics startup Shorages secures $1m for expansion 

Shorages, a UAE-based logistics startup, has raised $1 million in a pre-series A funding round led by Joa Capital’s S3 Ventures Fund.  

Founded in 2019 by Rayan Osseiran, the company provides fulfillment solutions in the UAE and Saudi Arabia for e-commerce platforms.  

The company aims to utilize the funding to help expand its warehouse operations across the Gulf region. 

UAE e-commerce startup WEE secures $12m in funding 

UAE-based e-commerce startup WEE has concluded a $12 million pre-series A funding round, facilitated by SIG Investment.  

Founded in 2021 by Anastasia Kim, Oleg Dashkevich, and Sergey Kolikov, WEE is an online marketplace that offers below 15-minutes delivery services.  

The investment will be used to spearhead WEE’s logistics capabilities, accelerate growth, and expand its team. 

Turkish fintech app Midas closes $45m funding round to boost MENA expansion 

Turkish fintech app Midas closed a $45 million funding round by Portage, a global investment platform, supported by International Finance Corporation, Spark Capital and Earlybird Digital East Fund. 

Founded by Egem Eraslan, the company allows users in Turkiye to invest in Turkish and US equities. 

The startup is aimed at Turkiye’s retail investor market and claims to have more than 2 million users. The company claims to charge significantly lower transaction and commission fees for Turkish customers who want to invest in US or Turkish stocks. 

Midas has plans to expand beyond Turkiye, and aims to target countries in the MENA region, according to a report by TechCrunch. 

Midas also plans to use the new funding to roll out three new products in cryptocurrency trading, mutual funds and savings accounts.  

UAE’s Maalexi signs agreement with Etihad Credit Insurance 

Maalexi, a UAE-based risk management platform focused on SME agri-businesses, has entered into a strategic credit insurance agreement with Etihad Credit Insurance, the UAE’s federal export credit company.  

This collaboration will enable Maalexi to utilize ECI’s extensive trade credit solutions and services, enhancing the competitiveness of regional SMEs in the food and agriculture trade sectors, both locally and internationally.  

The partnership aims to reduce market entry barriers, support Maalexi’s goal of increasing SME participation in the cross-border trade of agricultural produce, and contribute to food security in the UAE.  


Putin says special attention should be paid to nuclear triad in Russia’s new arms program

Updated 5 min 35 sec ago
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Putin says special attention should be paid to nuclear triad in Russia’s new arms program

  • “Undoubtedly, special attention should be paid to the nuclear triad, which has been and will remain the guarantee of Russia’s sovereignty,” Putin says

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that special attention in the country’s new arms program should be paid to the nuclear triad — land-based, sea-based and aircraft-launched weapons.
Putin’s remarks, broadcast on state television, were made at a meeting of senior officials devoted to the country’s arms industry.
“Undoubtedly, special attention should be paid to the nuclear triad, which has been and will remain the guarantee of Russia’s sovereignty and plays a key role in upholding the balance of forces in the world,” Putin said.
A total of 95 percent of weapons in Russia’s strategic nuclear forces, he said, were fully up-to-date.
“This is a good indicator and, in essence, the highest among all the world’s nuclear powers,” he told the gathering.


Saudi king, crown prince condemn shooting that killed 10 students in Austrian school

Updated 3 min 51 sec ago
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Saudi king, crown prince condemn shooting that killed 10 students in Austrian school

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia's King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Thursday offered condolences to Austria over a shooting attack that killed 10 and injured 11 at a secondary school, according to the Saudi Press Agency, or SPA.

In a message to Austrian President Alexander van Deir Beilin, King Salman condemned the attack as a "disgraceful criminal act" and expressed "deepest condolences and sincere sympathy" to the people of Austria and relatives of those killed, and wishes for "a speedy recovery" for those injured.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is also prime minister of the Kingdom, sent a similar message to the Austrian leader.

Austria's President Alexander Van der Bellen and his partner Doris Schmidauer place flowers at a central square in Graz, southeastern Austria, on June 11, 2025, one day after ten people died in a school shooting in the city. (APA/AFP)

Austrian police said the shooter, armed with a shotgun and a pistol, attacked the Dreierschuetzengasse secondary school in Graz region on June 10 over still unknown reasons.

The shooter was a 21-year-old former pupil at the school in Graz region, but never finished his studies there, local media quoted a preliminary police probe as saying.
 

People attend a commemoration event to pay their respect at a central square in Graz, southeastern Austria, on June 11, 2025 one day after ten people died in a school shooting in the city. (APA/AFP)    Austria's President Alexander Van der Bellen and his partner Doris Schmidauer place flowers at a central square in Graz, southeastern Austria, on June 11, 2025, one day after ten people died in a school shooting in the city. (APA/AFP)

 


US judge says government must release Columbia University protester Mahmoud Khalil

Updated 8 min 49 sec ago
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US judge says government must release Columbia University protester Mahmoud Khalil

  • US District Judge Michael Farbiarz had ruled earlier that expelling Khalil from the US on those grounds was likely unconstitutional

NEW YORK: A federal judge ruled on Wednesday that the Trump administration cannot use US foreign policy interests to justify its detention of Columbia University student and pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, but said his order would not take effect until Friday.
Khalil was arrested on March 8 after the State Department revoked his green card under a little-used provision of US immigration law granting the US secretary of state the power to seek the deportation of any noncitizen whose presence in the country is deemed adverse to US foreign policy interests.
He has since been held in immigration detention in Louisiana.
Khalil was the first known foreign student to be arrested as part of Trump’s bid to deport foreign students who took part in pro-Palestinian protests that swept US college campuses after Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack on Israel and Israel’s subsequent military assault.
 

 


Peanuts or almonds? Rice or millet? Planet-friendly grocery shopping choices go beyond cutting meat

Updated 25 min 47 sec ago
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Peanuts or almonds? Rice or millet? Planet-friendly grocery shopping choices go beyond cutting meat

  • Plant-based proteins like legumes, beans and nuts all boast a much lower climate impact

It’s one of the most impactful climate decisions we make, and we make it multiple times a day.
The UN estimates about a third of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, the main driver of climate change, come from food. That pollution can come from several links in the food supply chain: how farmland is treated, how crops are grown, how food is processed and how it’s ultimately transported.
Maybe you’ve already heard the short answer to minimizing your diet’s impact on the planet: eat more plants and fewer animals. The data backs up that suggestion. Emissions from meat-rich diets are four times higher than that of vegan diets.
But so much focus on meats overshadows many other food choices that also impact the environment and can contribute to global warming. Here is a look at other important grocery store decisions:
Proteins
Swapping one serving of chicken per day for beef cuts a diet’s emissions nearly in half. Ruminant animals such as cows, sheep and goats are the top drivers of emissions.
Those animals “are associated not only with nitrous oxide emissions, but they’re also related to direct methane emissions because they burp them up while they digest food,” said Marco Springmann, professorial research fellow in climate change, food systems and health at University College London.
Springmann said processed animal products have a higher impact on the planet, too: “You need 10 times the amount of milk to make one unit of cheese.” So — and this is true of most food groups — the less processed the food, the smaller the environmental impact.
Plant-based proteins like legumes, beans and nuts all boast a much lower climate impact.
Grains
The standout here is rice, and not in a good way.
“Rice uses a ton of water. It uses gobs of fertilizer. There’s flooded rice paddy fields, and that water actually breeds all kinds of bacteria, and those bacteria produce methane gas,” said eco-dietitian nutritionist Mary Purdy.
Purdy said the most planet-friendly alternative is just eating a bunch of different grains.
“The wheat, corn and soy world is very, very familiar to us because we’ve been seeing it. It’s been heavily marketed. When was the last time you saw a commercial for millet or buckwheat?” she asked.
Diverse diets, Purdy said, incentivize biodiverse agriculture, which is more resilient to erratic weather — a hallmark of climate change — and makes healthier soil.
Fruits and vegetables
When it comes to produce, minimizing impact is less about choosing between foods and more about buying based on the way that food was grown.
Conventionally grown produce “very likely is using pesticides, fertilizer, and maybe more water because the soil isn’t healthy,” said Purdy.
Purdy said organic labels, such as Regenerative Organic Certified, indicate those foods had a smaller climate impact when they were grown. The tradeoff is that organic food has a lower yield, so it requires more land use and is often more expensive.
Local and “in season” foods also have a smaller climate impact, but not just for one of the reasons you may be thinking of: emissions from international shipping. Every day, thousands of large ships transport goods, including produce, around the world, and the fuel they use is heavily polluting.
However, “it’s mostly those local emissions on trucks that are actually impactful, not the international shipping emissions,” Springmann said.
Also, food grown nearby tends to be grown in a way that fits with the local climate and is less harmful to the environment.
“We’re not trying to grow oranges in some place in a greenhouse,” Purdy said.
Butter and oil
Plants win out over animals, again. Vegetable oils are less impactful than butter or lard. Springmann also said tropical oils are healthiest in moderation, such as those from coconuts or palms, because they have a higher fat content. Plus, palm oil is associated with deforestation.
As for nut butters, almonds might be a great option for limiting carbon emissions, but they require a lot of water. One study out of Tulane University found that a serving of peanuts has an emissions footprint similar to almonds but 30 percent less impact on water use.
Don’t waste food
Throwing less food away might sound obvious, but roughly a third of food grown in the US is wasted.
Meal planning, freezing leftovers and checking the fridge before heading to the grocery store all help cut waste.
“The climate impact, the embedded water use, all of the labor and different aspects that went into producing that food, that all gets wasted if we don’t eat it,” Nicole Tichenor Blackstone, a professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University.


Hattan Alsaif returns for 2025 PFL MENA 2 in Riyadh

Updated 11 June 2025
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Hattan Alsaif returns for 2025 PFL MENA 2 in Riyadh

  • Saudi amateur will face three-time Lebanese MMA champion Nour Al-Fliti
  • Welterweight champion Omar El-Dafrawy to face Daniele Miceli in main event

RIYADH: The Professional Fighters League on Wednesday announced the full card for PFL MENA 2, to be held at Riyadh’s Green Halls arena on Friday, July 4.

In the main event, 2024 PFL MENA welterweight champion Omar “God First” El-Dafrawy (13-5-0) returns to the city of his title win to face 2024 PFL Europe welterweight finalist Daniele “The Cyborg” Miceli (13-6-0) in the SmartCage.

The co-main event features a welterweight clash between Kuwaiti Mohammad Alaqraa (7-1-0) and Palestinian Omar “187” Hussein (11-6-0). Alaqraa, a 2024 PFL MENA finalist and current division leader, is seeking redemption after suffering the first loss of his professional career in last year’s finals. Hussein, a former PFL Europe standout, is aiming to hand Alaqraa a second defeat and make a strong statement on the Middle Eastern MMA scene.

In a highly anticipated bantamweight quarterfinal bout, Algeria’s Mokthar “Le Kabyle” Benkaci (24-9-0) will face Lebanon’s Marcel Adur (19-7-0). Both fighters are known for their explosive striking and finishing power, making this a strong contender for the most thrilling bout of the night.

Local favorite Hattan Alsaif (AM 3-0-0) returns to the SmartCage for what is likely to be another exciting amateur showcase. The rising Saudi talent faces her toughest opponent yet in Nour Al-Fliti (AM 1-1-0), a three-time Lebanese MMA champion and IMMAF Asian Championship silver medalist.

Rounding out the card, Abdulaziz Bin Moammar (AM 1-0-0) will represent the Kingdom in a catchweight 160 pound showcase amateur bout against Egypt’s Hassan Ahmed (AM 3-1-0).