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Lendo and J.P. Morgan executives signing the facility, which is expected to create new jobs in Saudi Arabia

Lendo raises $690m to fund SME growth in Saudi Arabia

Lendo, a Saudi debt crowdfunding platform, has secured a SAR2.6 billion ($690 million) facility to fund more small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the kingdom. The facility, led by J.P. Morgan, will expand its lending capacity, introduce new innovative products, and expand SME coverage in the kingdom, says the company.  This aligns with Vision 2030’s […]

There was a steep increase in patent applications in some GCC countries, even though the overall level is still low

Pace of patent filings shows a leap in GCC innovation

Patent applications filed by residents of Saudi Arabia have more than doubled in the past eight years, from 3,213 in 2016 – when Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman launched his Vision 2030 programme – to 6,510 in 2023. Saudi filers submitted 86.3 patent applications per million inhabitants last year, up from 39.4 in 2016. However, […]

Commentators say Middle East investors have remained active, despite the overall drop in venture capital funding

Saudi startup funding tumbles as era of cheap money ends

Funding for startups in Saudi Arabia dropped 44 percent to $750 million last year, the sharpest decline in the Middle East and North Africa, according to data analyst Magnitt. Across Mena, venture capital was down 29 percent to just under $2 billion, reflecting global trends of high interest rates and investor caution. Saudi Arabia was […]

Startup Zension says smartphones have at least a seven-year lifespan but on average are used for just three

Saudi Aramco leads $30m investment in tech startup

Wa’ed Ventures, the $500 million venture capital fund owned by Saudi Aramco, and Japanese conglomerate Sumitomo have invested in Zension Technologies, a consumer electronics startup. Wa’ed led the funding raise of $30 million, which also included Dubai-based Global Ventures.  Based in Riyadh, Zension provides consumers with access to the latest tech devices. Instead of purchasing devices […]

Rio Ferdinand, pictured at the Qatar Grand Prix, said in a statement that Koora Break 'innovates through fan engagement'

Rio Ferdinand invests in Saudi sports platform

Rio Ferdinand, the former England and Manchester United footballer, has invested in a Saudi sports platform.  The Ferdinand Group (TFG), a sports and entertainment investment company owned by the ex player, acquired a minority stake in Koora Break, described as the fastest-growing football app in the Middle East and North Africa. No specific financial terms […]

An entrepreneur's pitch on Unicorn Hunters. The production team is in 'advanced talks' with Saudi and Qatari-owned media

Gulf startups get ready for their close-up on reality TV

First it was Shark Tank, now it’s Unicorn Hunters. Reality TV has become the latest pathway for Gulf startups to access venture capital.  The second season of Shark Tank Dubai is airing now in the UAE – an Arabic version of the Dragons’ Den/Shark Tank format in which entrepreneurs make presentations to a panel of venture […]

Paul Gilbert of Alvarez & Marsal says that more predictable processes are positive for investors distressed investors debt distressed investment Saudi investors Video length: 03:17

Opportunities for ‘distressed investors’ as Saudi companies restructure

International and regional distressed investors looking at buying debt in Saudi businesses are becoming more active as new bankruptcy laws and reforms take shape in Saudi Arabia.  Paul Gilbert, Middle East managing director at Alvarez & Marsal, said bankruptcy processes were “being very predictable”, which was an “important factor for inward investment into the country”.  […]

Ed Rawles of Nybl says 'our region lags behind the rest of the world when it comes to committing actual cash to new technology' funding for AI Video length: 03:43

Funding squeeze stifles AI innovation in Mena

Emerging technology and AI startups in the Mena region are struggling to find investors. Industry experts say that the Middle East attracts less than 5 percent of global funding for AI because of the lack of specialised venture capital funds that are willing to take risks. “Our region lags behind the rest of the world […]

Elon Musk Twitter Donald Trump Kingdom Holding

What next for Kingdom Holding’s $2bn X investment?

When Elon Musk took ownership of Twitter in 2022 for $44 billion, he did so with the help of Saudi Arabia’s Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and his Kingdom Holding, which put up nearly $2 billion of the price, and the Qatar Investment Authority, which handed over $375 million. The investment made the Saudi company the […]

Listing is seen as a way to professionalise family-run companies, but Mishal Kanoo argues that it does not fundamentally change family dynamics

The No 1 problem in a family business? ‘Not business, but family’

Public listings offer access to capital markets but they do not resolve the issues that often plague family businesses, the chairman of one of the Gulf’s largest and oldest family-owned conglomerates has told AGBI. Those challenges are governance, mindset and personal dynamics, said Mishal Kanoo, chairman of the Kanoo Group.  “Not a lot of people […]

Habib Hazzan, managing general partner at Ibtikar Fund, which has just closed its second fund at $25 million

Funding increase to support Palestinian startups

Funding levels are being ramped up to support Palestinian startups in the war-torn territory and across the wider Middle East and North Africa. Just $8.8 million has been invested in Palestinian startups – marked as Ramallah, West Bank or Gaza-based – in 18 deals on record from 2022 to the present day, according to Racha […]

The Ignyte platform, developed by Dubai International Financial Centre, aims to attract 5,000 venture capitalists, 5,000 vetted mentors and 500 corporate and government partners startup startups VCs venture capital Dubai

Dubai seeks 5,000 VCs to ignite startup funding

Less than a tenth of total loans issued by UAE banks in the first half of the year went to small and medium sized enterprises amid renewed calls to reduce the funding gap. The total amount of facilities and loans extended by banks operating in the UAE reached AED856 billion ($233 billion) by the end […]

Ahmad Bin Byat, vice chairman of Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy. The companies that survive are 'the smart ones', he said

Dubai prepares laws to support digital businesses

Dubai is preparing to roll out a wave of regulations aimed at supporting small and digital businesses, a government official has confirmed. “We need to recognise that digital business are different from traditional businesses, and we need to treat them as such,” Ahmad Bin Byat, vice chairman of Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy, told AGBI. […]

A study found that up to two thirds of Turks between the ages of 18 and 25 would leave the country if given the chance, with the rate even higher for those with advanced education

Turkey aims for higher level of cybersecurity

Turkey has outlined plans for a new cybersecurity directorate to encourage private sector research and new startups. Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz said last week that the directorate would be established in the autumn as part of a campaign to strengthen the state’s defences against all forms of cyber attack.  “We have more or less completed […]

Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov

Telegram founder Pavel Durov arrested in France

Pavel Durov, the Russian-born billionaire founder and owner of the Dubai-based Telegram messaging app, was arrested at Le Bourget airport, Paris shortly after landing on a private jet late on Saturday, and placed in custody, three sources have told Reuters. Durov, 39, who has dual French and UAE citizenship, was arrested as part of a […]