Founding MENA #7
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
- 🇦🇪 Origen raised $50M. See more here.
- 🇪🇬 Breadfast raised $50M in pre-Series C led by Mubadala. See more here.
- 🇦🇪 Stake raised $31M in Series B led by Emirates NBD. See more here.
- 🇸🇦 MADFU raised $25.5M in pre-Series A led by Afaq Capital. See more here.
- 🇸🇦 CASHIN raised $16M in Series A led by Impact46. See more here.
- 🇪🇬 Flextock raised $12.6M in Series A led by TLcom Capital. See more here.
- 🇸🇦 Solidrange raised $2.4M in seed led by Sharaka Capital. See more here.
📰 Startup News
Another HUGE AI round backed by MENA capital
HUMAIN invested $3B in xAI's Series E this week.
Led by CEO Tareq Amin, HUMAIN (a PIF company) deployed one of the largest single checks in AI history, becoming a significant minority shareholder in xAI.
When SpaceX acquired xAI weeks later in one of the largest tech mergers on record, HUMAIN's holdings converted to SpaceX equity.
HUMAIN operates across the full AI stack: next-generation data centres, high-performance infrastructure and cloud platforms, advanced AI models, and transformative AI solutions.
The $3B investment builds on HUMAIN's previously announced 500MW AI data centre partnership with xAI in Saudi Arabia, one of the largest AI infrastructure projects announced in the region.
Together, the partnership and equity stake position HUMAIN as both a strategic development partner and a leading global shareholder in frontier AI.
Saudi Arabia is systematically building positions across the global AI value chain: OpenAI (via MGX), Anthropic (via MGX), xAI (via HUMAIN), plus massive data centre infrastructure partnerships.
This is sovereign-scale positioning in the technology that will define the next decade.
Read more here.
Another acquisition this month
Dawar - Circular Solutions just acquired Bekya Pay to digitise Egypt's recycling economy from household to final sale.
Founded in 2017 by Environ Adapt, Dawar is a digital infrastructure for recyclable material flows across Egypt, recording and verifying movements from collection points through aggregators to traders.
BekyaPay, launched less than a year ago, is a consumer-facing app where households exchange sorted recyclables for cash. 30,000+ users, 500 collection points, 120 collectors across 2 governorates.
Egypt's recycling system has operated informally for decades. Despite massive material flows, there's been no digital layer tracking waste from source to final buyer.
Companies can't prove ESG compliance. Producers have no visibility into material recovery. The entire value chain runs on fragmented, manual processes.
Dawar has documented 90,000+ verified tonnes of recyclables across 22 governorates, creating a unified traceability system that connects collection points, aggregators, and traders.
Now with BekyaPay integrated, Dawar controls the full chain, capturing source-level data before materials enter informal networks, then tracking them through to final trade. Complete visibility from the kitchen to the buyer.
As Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulations tighten and ESG reporting becomes mandatory across MENA, companies need verifiable, traceable data on material flows.
The acquisition positions Dawar as essential infrastructure as Egypt formalises waste recovery systems at scale.
Read more here.
🔦 Spotlight
A fourth fund for Jordan’s leading VC firm
Jordan's Oasis500 launches $20M+ fourth fund to back early-stage tech startups.
Founded in 2010 through the King Abdullah II Fund For Development, Oasis500 is Jordan's first dedicated seed-stage tech investor.
Oasis Ventures III fund will target early-stage tech and tech-enabled startups with scalable business models capable of competing regionally and globally.
Since its inception, Oasis500 has invested in 193 startups across 22 countries.
Those companies have collectively raised over $135M in follow-on funding, carry a current portfolio valuation of ~$240M, and have generated nearly 5,000 direct and indirect jobs.
The fund follows three previous vehicles: Oasis Ventures I (2010), Oasis Creative Industries (2015), and Oasis Ventures II (2019).
Notable portfolio companies include Capifly, Simma, Toolmart Inc, and CoinMENA, which was acquired by Turkey's Paribu in December 2025 for up to $240M, marking Turkey's largest fintech transaction.
Oasis Ventures III will focus on startups that have product-market fit and demonstrated commercial maturity, providing not just capital but hands-on strategic support to help local companies scale across regional and global markets.
"Oasis Ventures III is a direct investment in Jordanian youth and in promising companies capable of growth and sustainability," said Chairwoman Suhair Ali.
Read more here.
📰 Other News
MGX completes the AI trifecta!
Abu Dhabi's MGX now backs all three frontier AI labs: OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI, positioning the UAE at the centre of the global AI race. The investments:
- OpenAI: Participated in $6.6B secondary sale at $500B valuation + equity partner in $500B Stargate infrastructure project
- Anthropic: Co-led $30B Series G at $350B valuation (nearly double previous round)
- xAI: Anchored $20B Series E alongside Qatar Investment Authority
MGX (launched just 2 years ago by Mubadala + G42) is systematically positioning the UAE across the entire AI value chain, from compute infrastructure to frontier models. The UAE aims to achieve 14% of its GDP from AI by 2031.
For founders building AI: The region now has direct relationships with OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI. Access to frontier models, compute resources, and expertise that would've taken a decade to establish happened in 24 months.
Read more here.
That’s all for this week, thanks! Sam
First published 23 Feb 2026 on Substack
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