Week 22's Biggest Startup Funding Rounds in Africa and the Middle East, Led by NALA and Airis Lab

NALA banked $50 million in credit financing to scale stablecoin payments while Israel's defense AI and food biotech closed the week's two largest equity rounds.

Startups across Africa and the Middle East raised a combined $105.93 million in disclosed funding in Week 22, led by a $50 million credit facility to Tanzanian payments infrastructure firm NALA and a $31 million Series B to Israeli defence AI company Airis Labs. The deals span payments, defence AI, food biotech, dental health and govtech, and include both debt and equity instruments.

'The company's AI system, called "One", is designed to improve how government teams work and make decisions.'

Key rounds and details

  • NALA — $50 million (credit financing), Payments Infrastructure, Tanzania

    NALA began as a remittance app in 2017 and has evolved into a stablecoin-powered payments infrastructure business, connecting enterprises to corridors across emerging markets, Europe and the US via its Rafiki platform. Its network covers more than 249 banks and 26 mobile money services across 16 countries. The facility was provided by Liquidity through Mars Growth Capital, a joint venture between Liquidity and MUFG Bank, structured as credit financing beginning with an initial $25 million tranche that can scale to $50 million or more. NALA told Techloy the funds will be used to pre-fund transfers, expand payment corridors and onboard larger enterprise clients, with several contracts expected to go live later in 2026.

  • Airis Labs — $31 million, Series B, Defence AI, Israel

    Airis Labs, which emerged from stealth this week, revealed the $31 million Series B as part of $60 million it has raised since 2023. Founded by Israeli defence veterans Noam Friedman, Rotem Abeles and Amos Lahav, the Tel Aviv company converts visual data from drones, body cameras, smartphones, social media and security footage into organised, searchable intelligence for government teams. PSG Equity led the round, joined by TLV Partners, Stepstone Group, Redseed Ventures and angel investors including Eyal Waldman. Proceeds will expand US operations, grow the team and accelerate product development.

  • Phytolon — $23.6 million, Food Biotech, Israel

    Yokne'am-based Phytolon, led by co-founder and CEO Halim Jubran, uses fermentation to produce natural food colours across a wide spectrum. The company secured FDA approval for its first product, Beetroot Red, earlier in 2026. The $23.6 million round closed in three stages, led by an undisclosed strategic investor with existing backers including Millennium Foodtech, NextGen Nutrition Investment Partners, Colorcon Ventures and Yossi Ackerman participating. Funding will support sales, supply agreements and expansion of US distribution partnerships.

  • Mia Healthcare Technologies — ZAR15 million (~$920K), Dental Health, South Africa

    Cape Town healthtech Mia Healthcare Technologies, founded in 2021 by Dr. Zane Stennings and Dr. Karishma Soni, raised ZAR15 million from the Vumela Fund (managed by Edge Growth and backed by FNB). The company operates mobile and fixed dental practices and manufactures locally produced clear aligners at lower prices than most imports. The capital will fund clinic expansion, boost manufacturing capacity and broaden access to orthodontic services.

  • 01Gov — AED 1.5 million (~$408K), GovTech, UAE

    Emirati startup 01Gov received an AED 1.5 million credit guarantee from the Mohammed Bin Rashid Innovation Fund to support its AI platform for public sector benchmarking and trend monitoring. The company's AI system, branded "One", targets improved decision-making and operational efficiency in government teams.

Other notable activity this week included Core42, the Abu Dhabi AI infrastructure company owned by G42, securing $550 million in structured trade finance from HSBC — a debt facility intended to fund AI cloud and compute deployments across the US and Europe. With Israel accounting for the two largest equity rounds and NALA’s credit facility dominating headline figures, the week’s deals highlight a mix of debt and equity solutions flowing into payments, defence intelligence, food biotech and healthcare across the region.