#108 This week In MENA's Startup Scene! - by Maxim Hamida

The latest regional startup roundup highlights more than $150 million in announced financing across MENA and a wave of new programs and infrastructure moves shaping market access and talent. Notable rounds this week include Labby’s $10 million investment to build a Syrian super app, Saudi fintech Fina’s $75 million debt facility, and SILQ’s $20 million structured financing to expand invoice and trade finance in the Kingdom.

“We are bringing you the latest round-up of startup news, updates, and opportunities in the MENA region,” writes Maxim Hamida, framing a digest that spans fundraising, ecosystem initiatives, product launches and accelerator deadlines.

Fundraising activity was concentrated in payments, fintech and healthcare. In Saudi Arabia, Fina secured a $75 million debt facility to embed Sharia‑compliant working capital into SME workflows using real‑time commerce and transaction data. SILQ followed with $20 million in structured financing to scale invoice and trade finance via its Fina platform, aimed at improving working‑capital access for SMEs across KSA.

Egyptian payments giant Fawry obtained a $10.8 million financing facility to scale data‑driven digital lending targeted at microenterprises and SMEs, with the goal of accelerating access to working capital and business expansion financing. In Syria, Labby announced a $10 million investment to launch a super app beginning with taxi bookings and food delivery before expanding into groceries and other daily services.

• Seed and early rounds included Ash Games Studio’s $1.5 million Seed to develop PC and console titles inspired by Saudi stories and mythology, and Lebanon’s Bounty raising just over $1 million for a freelance marketplace where AI agents compete for paid tasks.
• Healthcare and diagnostics also saw moves: Reme‑D closed a $1.45 million Pre‑Series A to manufacture affordable, temperature‑resilient molecular diagnostics across African markets for TB, HIV, hepatitis and HPV.
• Smaller but strategic deals landed in the Gulf: QIIB made a strategic investment in Qatar’s SkipCash to expand digital payments infrastructure, while Doctorbook in Syria raised $16,000 Pre‑Seed to connect patients and clinics digitally.

Beyond deals, the week brought major corporate and institutional shifts. The Public Investment Fund’s $55 billion takeover of Electronic Arts neared unconditional EU approval, moving the Saudi‑led consortium closer to completing gaming’s largest leveraged buyout. A Mubadala Capital partnership launched a $75 million tokenized private markets fund spanning Base, Solana and Sui, aimed at qualified institutional and accredited investors. MGX‑led consortium completed a $40 billion acquisition of Aligned Data Centers and committed an additional $5 billion to expand AI‑ready data centre capacity across the US and Latin America.

Ecosystem support programs opened or announced new rounds: Khalifa Fund rolled out seven financing programs for Emirati entrepreneurs and SMEs, Hub71 opened applications for Cohort 20 with an August 2 deadline, and Cure by Deerfield Middle East Health Accelerator II starts on August 17. Other deadlines include Sanabil Startup Unlocked by 500 Global (August 23) and Dubai SME Hi2 Incubator (August 31).

Infrastructure and talent initiatives added momentum. Iraq granted Starlink an operating licence, broadening satellite internet options. RiseUp, A15 and BitRoot launched NVIDIA SIGNALS in Egypt to connect AI founders with GPU resources and technical support. Egypt, Germany and the Sawiris Foundation agreed to establish 10 applied technology schools focused on digital and industry‑aligned technical skills.

Outlook: expect continued capital deployment into fintech, payments and AI‑enabled services, while tokenized funds and large data‑centre deals indicate growing institutional appetite for infrastructure-linked exposures. Upcoming accelerator deadlines—and institutional programmes such as Khalifa Fund’s seven programmes and Hub71 Cohort 20—should be watched by founders seeking growth capital, market access and technical partnerships across the region.