Week 25: Africa & Middle East Startup Funding Rounds

Week 25: Startups in Africa, the Middle East and Israel raise $566.1 million, led by D360 Bank and NewCore

Startups across Africa, the Middle East and Israel disclosed a combined $566.1 million in funding rounds this week, led by a SAR 1.5 billion (about $400 million) capital increase at D360 Bank and a $66 million raise by Israeli cybersecurity newcomer NewCore. The D360 move, backed by the Public Investment Fund and led by Derayah Financial, makes the Saudi digital bank the largest by capital in the country and values it at around SAR 6 billion. NewCore, founded by Israeli cyber veterans including Dome9 founder Zohar Alon, surfaced from stealth with a $300 million valuation.

"D360 is Saudi Arabia's first licensed digital bank, offering accounts, payments and lending entirely through an app,"

The shareholder-approved SAR 1.5 billion capital increase for D360 is intended to support the bank's expansion and lending growth, officials said. The round was backed by the kingdom's sovereign Public Investment Fund and coordinated by Derayah Financial, positioning D360 as a better-capitalised competitor in Saudi Arabia's growing digital banking sector. The reported valuation of roughly SAR 6 billion follows the injection and underscores the scale of investor appetite for regulated digital banking licences in the Gulf.

"NewCore... builds an identity system that manages and secures the logins of employees, machines, and AI agents from a single place,"

NewCore emerged from stealth with $66 million in funding from investors including Cyberstarts, Index Ventures and Evolution Equity Partners. The Tel Aviv–based startup, co-founded by experienced Israeli cybersecurity entrepreneurs such as Zohar Alon (founder of Dome9), says its platform centralises identity and authentication for human and machine actors as organisations adopt more AI-driven workflows. NewCore's founders will direct the fresh capital toward product development and a go-to-market push as they scale the platform to enterprise customers.

• Total disclosed capital raised across the region this week: $566.1 million.
• Largest deal: D360 Bank – SAR 1.5 billion (~$400 million) capital increase; valuation ~SAR 6 billion.
• Notable cybersecurity raise: NewCore – $66 million; stealth exit valuation of $300 million.

Beyond the two headline transactions, the week's disclosed rounds concentrated in fintech, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, reflecting ongoing investor interest in regulated digital finance and identity tooling for hybrid human–machine environments. The D360 capital increase demonstrates how strategic backers, including sovereign funds and regional asset managers, are willing to anchor large-scale raises for licensed financial institutions. Meanwhile, NewCore's investor roster and headline valuation signal strong global venture appetite for identity platforms that address the security challenges introduced by proliferating AI agents and automated systems.

Outlook: D360 will likely deploy the new capital to accelerate customer acquisition and expand lending capabilities inside Saudi Arabia, while NewCore will focus on productisation and enterprise sales as customers seek single-pane identity controls for employees, machines and AI agents. Both deals indicate that funding in the region this week favoured companies with clear regulatory footing or technology positioning to secure and manage access across increasingly complex digital stacks.