Founding MENA #3
Welcome to the Founding MENA newsletter - bringing you the top stories from across the region every week.
I hope you find the newsletter insightful, but I’m always open to feedback and suggestions. Let’s get into it!
💰 Investment Rounds
- 🇦🇪 AppliedAI raised a pre-Series B round (undisclosed amount) led by Mubadala’s MENA Venture Capital Fund and Arbor Ventures. See more here.
- 🇪🇬 NowPay entered the Saudi market through a $20M-backed JV with Tas’heel. See more here.
- 🇦🇪 Eat App raised $10M in a Series B extension led by PSG Equity via Zenchef SAS. See more here.
- 🇦🇪 OpenCX raised $7M led by Y Combinator and X by Unifonic. See more here.
- 🇸🇦 Grove raised $5M in seed funding led by Outliers VC. See more here.
- 🇸🇦 Resquad AI raised $1.5M in seed funding led by SRG. See more here.
- 🇯🇴 Breez AI raised $1.3M in pre-seed funding backed by FENA Holdings. See more here.
- 🇪🇬 KNOT Technologies raised $1M in pre-seed funding led by A15. See more here
📰 Startup News
G42 scaling AI
UAE-based G42 just unveiled Digital Embassies and Greenshield, a radical new framework that could redefine how nations deploy AI.
The idea is simple, but powerful: AI sovereignty should travel with the workload, not be tied to physical infrastructure. Governments can now deploy AI systems remotely, while retaining full legal control over data, policies, and operations, almost like a diplomatic flag wrapped around the compute.
Backed by Microsoft and designed to complement the UAE’s 5GW Stargate AI campus, this model solves a massive bottleneck: most countries want sovereign AI, but can’t wait years to build domestic data centres.
By pitching this framework at Davos, G42 isn’t just launching a product; it’s positioning the UAE as a global standard-setter for sovereign AI.
If this takes off, Digital Embassies could become the operating system for how nations everywhere deploy and govern AI.
Read more here.
🔦 Spotlight
Wio
Wio Bank didn't just launch a digital bank, they built the UAE's first platform bank and hit profitability in record time.
Launched in Abu Dhabi in September 2022, Wio Bank has proved that state-backed institutions can move fast and win big.
Here's why Wio's journey is one of the most impressive fintech stories in MENA:
👉🏼 Heavyweight backing from day one. Wio was founded with AED 2.3B in initial capital from ADQ (65%), e& (25%), Alpha Dhabi Holding, and First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) (10%), giving it both the firepower and credibility to scale aggressively.
👉🏼 Profitability in Year 1. Wio achieved profitability in its first full year (2023) with AED 266.4M in revenue and AED 2M net profit.
👉🏼 Scale that matters. From zero to +200k customers in under two years. Customer deposits surged past AED 11B by the end of 2023. By late 2025, Wio had grown to +250k retail customers and +120k business clients, including international firms from the UK and China.
👉🏼 Beyond banking. Wio launched Wio Invest in 2023, which crossed $1B in assets under administration in under two years, one of the fastest-growing digital investment platforms globally. They're also launching a payments company in 2026 to expand their ecosystem further.
👉🏼 Execution speed. Wio cut average account opening times to ~2 days by integrating directly with the UAE's national identity and company registration systems. Led by CEO Jayesh Patel (ex-Liv, Deloitte, IBM), the team executed on embedded finance, BaaS, and digital banking simultaneously.
The UAE isn't just talking about digital transformation; companies like Wio are building the rails for it.
For founders looking at fintech infrastructure in the region, this is the model to study.
📰 Other News
OpenAI targets UAE capital
Sam Altman is going big. Really big.
OpenAI is in early talks to raise at least $50 billion in what could become one of the largest private capital raises in tech history, and the Middle East is front and centre.
Altman has been meeting with senior figures at Abu Dhabi-backed investment funds, exploring a round that could value the company between $750 billion and $830 billion.
OpenAI has already committed more than $1.4 trillion to AI infrastructure over the coming years (advanced chips, data centres, talent) and the capital intensity is only accelerating. The company previously raised from MGX, partnered with G42 on UAE data centre infrastructure, and is reportedly in discussions with Amazon about a potential $10 billion investment.
But the Middle East play is strategic. As rivals like Anthropic (reportedly raising at $350B) and xAI turn to the region for capital, sovereign and quasi-sovereign funds are positioning themselves as critical backers of frontier AI.
OpenAI remains the most recognisable name in generative AI, but competition from Google and well-funded challengers is intensifying.
The proposed $50B round isn’t just about funding; it’s about securing the infrastructure, geopolitical partnerships, and competitive edge to stay ahead in the AI arms race.
Can the Middle East become the kingmaker in global AI? This round might answer that question.
Read more here.
Mohamed Alabbar doubles down on AI
Mohamed Alabbar dropped a reality bomb at the 1 Billion Followers Summit in Dubai. The founder of Emaar and noon didn’t sugarcoat it:
“AI is the greatest news for a country like the UAE. We depend on amazing people coming from abroad, and much of that will change because AI will do a lot of that work for us.”
Translation: The skills that once required importing global talent (finance, tech, consulting, marketing, ops) are about to be automated, augmented, or replaced. For a country where expats make up 88% of the population, this isn’t a gentle shift. It’s a seismic recalibration of who gets hired and why.
But here’s the kicker: Alabbar isn’t predicting doom. He’s predicting Darwinism. “Smart people, if they know how to use AI, will still do well.” The future belongs to those who treat AI as a force multiplier, not a threat. Credentials won’t save you. Adaptability will.
The UAE has always rewarded hustle over pedigree. AI doesn’t change that, it just raises the stakes. The expats who win in the next decade won’t be the ones doing routine work exceptionally well. They’ll be the ones doing irreplaceable work, supercharged by machines.
Alabbar’s message is clear: the region isn’t slowing down. It’s accelerating into an AI-first economy, and the workforce (local or imported) needs to evolve fast or get left behind.
Read more here.
That’s all for this week, thanks! Sam
First published 26 Jan 2026 on Substack
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