Startup Wrap: Gaming, healthcare and fintech firms raise funding and expand operations in lively market

Strategic investments and product launches across Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt dominated this week’s startup news, with insurance tech, fintech, gaming, manufacturing and AI firms announcing fresh funding, new products and regional expansion plans. Highlights include Saudi insurance tech DESAISIV launching an AI pricing engine, UAE fintech Epic Markets raising $10 million in a pre-seed round, Saudi game studio Ash Games securing $1.5 million in seed funding, and Egypt’s Simplex opening a $50 million, 40,000 sq. meter factory.

"The platform uses AI and advanced analytics to benchmark insurance pricing, assess policy performance, identify cost-saving opportunities and improve healthcare benefits management through real-time insights," DESAISIV said of its new Fair Market Pricing Engine.

Major deals and product launches

• DESAISIV (Saudi Arabia): The Riyadh-based insurance tech startup launched the Fair Market Pricing Engine, an AI-driven solution for corporate health insurance pricing. Founded in 2022 by Sa’ed Khawaldeh and Mohammad Nabhan, DESAISIV has raised more than $8 million to date and manages corporate health insurance portfolios valued at more than SR2 billion ($540 million) for over 600 organisations across the Middle East and North Africa.
• Epic Markets (UAE): The fintech, founded in 2026 by Kevin Kimmel and Brian Seegers, raised $10 million in a pre-seed round from Karatage as the sole investor. The capital will be used to build a multi-asset brokerage platform aimed at giving retail investors institutional-grade trade execution and professional trading infrastructure.
• Simplex (Egypt): The CNC manufacturing startup inaugurated its second facility in 10th of Ramadan City covering 40,000 sq. meters following investments of $50 million, and has started construction on a third factory. Founded in 2013 by Ahmed Shaaban and Mohamed Mansour, Simplex also signed partnership and agency agreements in Jordan and Kuwait. In January 2025 the company raised $13 million in a round led by Saudi Arabia’s National Industrial Development Center.
• Ash Games (Saudi Arabia): The game development studio raised $1.5 million in a seed round co-led by Merak Capital and Impact46 through the Merak Gaming Fund. Founded in 2022 by Anas Bakhsh, Yaser Al-Ahmadi and Saud Bakolka, Ash Games is developing Nomad, an action-adventure title scheduled for PC, PlayStation and Xbox release in 2027.
• DoctorBook (Syria): The health tech startup raised $16,000 in pre-seed funding to accelerate digitisation of appointment bookings. Founded in 2026 by Abdulrahman Al-Jandali and Abdulrahman Al-Khateeb, DoctorBook connects patients with providers for online booking and service access.

Regional investor moves and other rounds

• BY Venture Partners (UAE/Lebanon) joined an oversubscribed $2 million pre-seed round for Canadian AI startup ChatFeatured, alongside Storytime Capital and Garage Capital. ChatFeatured, founded in 2026 by Farris Nasr and Nithiiyan Skhanthan, builds an answer engine optimisation platform for AI-powered search.
• SkipCash (Qatar) secured a strategic investment from Qatar International Islamic Bank to support payment infrastructure expansion and GCC growth; SkipCash previously raised $4 million in a Series A in February. Founder: Mohammed Abdulaziz Al-Delaimi.
• Jada Fund of Funds (Saudi Arabia) made its first commitment to Growth Catalyst Fund I, a private equity vehicle targeting $200 million to back growth-stage Saudi SMEs. The fund is led by Turki Al-Dayel and aims to address an estimated SR300 billion to SR500 billion SME financing gap.
• Fincart (Egypt) closed an oversubscribed $2.8 million seed round co-led by Launch Africa and Antler MENAP, with participation from Yango Ventures, Five35 Ventures, Bluestream Capital, Hi2 Global and Kalahari.

Outlook: Several startups signalled plans for regional expansion and product scaling, with funding directed toward platform development, manufacturing capacity and international publishing. The mix of AI product launches, fintech infrastructure investments and manufacturing growth suggests continued cross-sector momentum as companies convert capital into regionally focused rollouts and technology-led services.