Company Insights Careem Tech Careem News Tech Gulf to see a surge in ‘super apps’ in 2023, says Kuwaiti retailer The future of the Gulf’s digital service economy lies in the creation of increasingly popular super apps, according to Tarek Sakr, CEO of Kuwait-based e-commerce and classifieds platform 4Sale. As technology continues to revolutionise the retail industry, building on the rapid shift to e-commerce during the coronavirus pandemic, in an exclusive column for AGBI, Sakr […] December 28, 2022 Analysis Banking & Finance Iraq: a hidden gem for bargain-hungry tech investors Flush with oil and boasting one of the Middle East’s largest and youngest populations, war-blighted Iraq could yet be the region’s next big investment destination. Many of the apparent disadvantages of Iraq, such as being a cash-based society and low startup valuations, present opportunities for the right investors looking to use their cash for maximum […] December 6, 2022 Banking & Finance Saudi Twitter backer KHC enjoys 996% soar in profits Shares in Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal’s Kingdom Holding Company (KHC) rose 3.2 percent in early trading today as the Saudi firm on Wednesday reported a 996 percent year-on-year increase in earnings for the first nine months of 2022. The investment holding firm, which is 16.87 percent owned by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, the Public […] November 10, 2022 Tech Gulf investors back $20m funding for ‘YouTube of the metaverse’ Los Angeles-headquartered social media startup VUZ, which describes itself as ‘the YouTube of the metaverse’ has raised $20 million from a range of Gulf-based investors and aims to use the new funding to expand into Asia. Founded in 2017, VUZ also has offices in Dubai and Riyadh, and is a social app which allows users […] October 14, 2022 Analysis Startup exits escalate in UAE The UAE is seeing an increase in startup exits this year, as the market matures while bigger players look to acquisitions to scale up their operations. The UAE Venture Investment Report, by research firm Magnitt, states that there were 10 startup exits in the Emirates in the first half of 2022, just one less than […] August 19, 2022 Analysis Banking & Finance Consolidation coming to Gulf fintech, warns $40bn unicorn VP Consolidation is coming to the Gulf’s fintech sector, according to Remo Giovanni Abbondandolo, senior vice president for MENA at global payments processor Checkout.com. The London-headquartered fintech, which offers a full-stack platform that simplifies payments processes for large global enterprise merchants, closed a $1 billion Series D funding round in January. “In my opinion, if you’re […] August 5, 2022 Exclusive New $800m ‘ultra app’ aims to shake up crowded Gulf market A Dubai-based serial entrepreneur has raised hundreds of millions of dollars to set up a new digital platform that he claims will disrupt the way people communicate, shop, pay, and transact, when it launches later this year. Abdallah Abu Sheikh, founder of Dubai-headquartered Astra Tech, calls his product, which is as yet unnamed, an ultra […] August 1, 2022 People & Lifestyle 20 MENA innovators to watch Meet the young game changers who have set their sights on transforming the Middle East and North Africa July 20, 2022 Exclusive Tourism Munch:On makes old business model hard to swallow Low-cost meals delivered in bulk from restaurants is one of the only ways of making the food delivery business in the UAE truly sustainable. So says Dana Baki, co-founder of Munch:On, the platform recently acquired by Uber-owned, Dubai-headquartered Careem. Created in 2016 by Baki, Mohammad Al Zaben and Awn Ali, Munch:On is a subscription-based food […] July 4, 2022 Banking & Finance Careem buys Dubai-based money transfer startup Uber-owned app ride-hailing firm Careem has acquired the assets of Dubai-based money transfer platform Denarii. Founded in 2019 by Jon Santillan and Walfrido Perez, Denarii will enable fintechs like Careem Pay to process quick and affordable international money transfers. Careem will also use the new addition to its Super App to allow customers and Captains […] July 4, 2022 Posts navigation Previous 1 … 4 5 6 Next
Tech Gulf to see a surge in ‘super apps’ in 2023, says Kuwaiti retailer The future of the Gulf’s digital service economy lies in the creation of increasingly popular super apps, according to Tarek Sakr, CEO of Kuwait-based e-commerce and classifieds platform 4Sale. As technology continues to revolutionise the retail industry, building on the rapid shift to e-commerce during the coronavirus pandemic, in an exclusive column for AGBI, Sakr […] December 28, 2022
Analysis Banking & Finance Iraq: a hidden gem for bargain-hungry tech investors Flush with oil and boasting one of the Middle East’s largest and youngest populations, war-blighted Iraq could yet be the region’s next big investment destination. Many of the apparent disadvantages of Iraq, such as being a cash-based society and low startup valuations, present opportunities for the right investors looking to use their cash for maximum […] December 6, 2022
Banking & Finance Saudi Twitter backer KHC enjoys 996% soar in profits Shares in Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal’s Kingdom Holding Company (KHC) rose 3.2 percent in early trading today as the Saudi firm on Wednesday reported a 996 percent year-on-year increase in earnings for the first nine months of 2022. The investment holding firm, which is 16.87 percent owned by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, the Public […] November 10, 2022
Tech Gulf investors back $20m funding for ‘YouTube of the metaverse’ Los Angeles-headquartered social media startup VUZ, which describes itself as ‘the YouTube of the metaverse’ has raised $20 million from a range of Gulf-based investors and aims to use the new funding to expand into Asia. Founded in 2017, VUZ also has offices in Dubai and Riyadh, and is a social app which allows users […] October 14, 2022
Analysis Startup exits escalate in UAE The UAE is seeing an increase in startup exits this year, as the market matures while bigger players look to acquisitions to scale up their operations. The UAE Venture Investment Report, by research firm Magnitt, states that there were 10 startup exits in the Emirates in the first half of 2022, just one less than […] August 19, 2022
Analysis Banking & Finance Consolidation coming to Gulf fintech, warns $40bn unicorn VP Consolidation is coming to the Gulf’s fintech sector, according to Remo Giovanni Abbondandolo, senior vice president for MENA at global payments processor Checkout.com. The London-headquartered fintech, which offers a full-stack platform that simplifies payments processes for large global enterprise merchants, closed a $1 billion Series D funding round in January. “In my opinion, if you’re […] August 5, 2022
Exclusive New $800m ‘ultra app’ aims to shake up crowded Gulf market A Dubai-based serial entrepreneur has raised hundreds of millions of dollars to set up a new digital platform that he claims will disrupt the way people communicate, shop, pay, and transact, when it launches later this year. Abdallah Abu Sheikh, founder of Dubai-headquartered Astra Tech, calls his product, which is as yet unnamed, an ultra […] August 1, 2022
People & Lifestyle 20 MENA innovators to watch Meet the young game changers who have set their sights on transforming the Middle East and North Africa July 20, 2022
Exclusive Tourism Munch:On makes old business model hard to swallow Low-cost meals delivered in bulk from restaurants is one of the only ways of making the food delivery business in the UAE truly sustainable. So says Dana Baki, co-founder of Munch:On, the platform recently acquired by Uber-owned, Dubai-headquartered Careem. Created in 2016 by Baki, Mohammad Al Zaben and Awn Ali, Munch:On is a subscription-based food […] July 4, 2022
Banking & Finance Careem buys Dubai-based money transfer startup Uber-owned app ride-hailing firm Careem has acquired the assets of Dubai-based money transfer platform Denarii. Founded in 2019 by Jon Santillan and Walfrido Perez, Denarii will enable fintechs like Careem Pay to process quick and affordable international money transfers. Careem will also use the new addition to its Super App to allow customers and Captains […] July 4, 2022
