Country profile

UAE

30Companies
25Founders

UAE · Jan to Aug

$1.59bn

▲ 55% on last year, 71% of all the money raised.

Stories from UAE

Story
What It Takes to Take a Gulf Restaurant Brand Abroad
At Harrods in London, Somewhere serves guacamole hummus, kunafa-wrapped shrimp and beef shawarma with beetroot rice.
1 Nov 2026
Story
Tabby vs Tamara: The Competition Is Moving Beyond Buy Now, Pay Later
Tabby and Tamara became familiar to Gulf shoppers through a simple offer: buy something now and spread the payment across instalments.
31 Oct 2026
Story
How MENA Consumer Brands Find Customers Abroad
Huda Beauty began selling false lashes after Huda Kattan had spent years publishing beauty advice.
29 Oct 2026
Story
Why So Many Indian Entrepreneurs Built Fortunes in the UAE
Some of the UAE’s biggest business empires were built by Indian entrepreneurs. LuLu, Aster, major jewellery chains, education groups and construction businesses all grew out of the same broader pattern.
21 Oct 2026
Story
The Gulf Is Becoming the World’s Testing Ground for Islamic Fintech
Islamic fintech is growing quickly, and the Gulf is becoming one of the most important places where that growth is being tested in the real world.
14 Oct 2026
Story
Why the Middle East Keeps Producing Super Apps
The Middle East has become unusually fertile ground for super apps. The reason is fairly simple: millions of consumers already live through their phones, but many of the services they use every day are still fragmented across different apps.
13 Oct 2026
Story
The Women Behind Some of MENA’s Biggest Companies
Trendyol is one of Turkey’s biggest technology companies. Insider sells its software to more than 1,500 brands across 28 countries. Huda Beauty became a global cosmetics business, while Hepsiburada became the first Turkish company to list on Nasdaq.
8 Oct 2026
Story
Why Dubai Is Becoming a Hub for Founders
A few years ago, founders moving to Dubai were often treated as exceptions. Today, the pattern is much harder to miss.
7 Oct 2026
Newsletter
Founding MENA #37
The UAE mourns the passing of H.H. Sheikh Ahmed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
28 Sep 2026
Newsletter
Founding MENA #36
A new MENA unicorn and Tabby is now more valuable than Klarna ...
21 Sep 2026
Newsletter
Founding MENA #33
Summer holidays draw to a close and the region is ready to build!
31 Aug 2026
Newsletter
Founding MENA #32
A week where we saw one UAE based founder rewrite the rules around scaling startups in the region ...
24 Aug 2026
Newsletter
Founding MENA #31
Fundraises and major tech news deep in the summer period.
17 Aug 2026
Newsletter
Founding MENA #27
Summer fundraises in full swing!
20 Jul 2026
Newsletter
Founding MENA #26
Another strong week across MENA.
13 Jul 2026
Newsletter
Founding MENA #25
'Tis the season for demo days and fundraises!
6 Jul 2026
Newsletter
Founding MENA #24
Summer slowdown? Never heard of it.
29 Jun 2026
Newsletter
Founding MENA #23
More progress for some of the biggest entrants to the MENA region.
22 Jun 2026
Newsletter
Founding MENA #22
Another week of activity across the ecosystem.
15 Jun 2026
Newsletter
Founding MENA #21
The start of summer is proving to be busier than ever!
8 Jun 2026
Newsletter
Founding MENA #20
A quieter week with the Eid celebrations.
1 Jun 2026
Newsletter
Founding MENA #19
Momentum remains strong across MENA this week!
25 May 2026
Newsletter
Founding MENA #17
LPs double down on MENA with new fund commitments.
11 May 2026
Newsletter
Founding MENA #16
Momentum is building across the region and we have a new partnership!
4 May 2026
Newsletter
Founding MENA #13
MENA startups continue to raise as the region remains resilient.
13 Apr 2026
FM30 UAEFintech

Fasset

Fasset is a Dubai-headquartered stablecoin-powered neobank offering USD accounts and cross-border settlement, valued at $1 billion after its Series C led by SBI Group.

$1bnValuation
FM featuredFM30 UAEFood & hospitality

Kitopi

Dubai-based multi-brand restaurant group that began as a cloud kitchen platform

$1bnValuation
FM30 UAERetail

eyewa

eyewa is the MENA region’s largest omnichannel eyewear retailer, and its $100 million Series C led by General Atlantic reinforced its position.

$600mValuation
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FM30 UAEAI

AppliedAI

AppliedAI builds Opus, an agentic AI workflow platform for regulated industries, headquartered in Abu Dhabi and backed by G42 and Mubadala.

$355mValuation
FM30 UAEProptech

Huspy

Huspy is a UAE proptech platform for home buying, selling and mortgage financing, expanding across Saudi Arabia and Europe.

$325mValuation
FM featuredFM30 UAEFintech

Wahed

Sharia-compliant investing app offering halal portfolios, ETFs and property investments

$300mValuation
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FM30 UAERetail

SellAnyCar

SellAnyCar.com is the Middle East’s largest car buying service, offering instant valuations and 30-minute guaranteed purchase across the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

$210mValuation
FM30 UAEFintech

YAP

YAP is a UAE-based digital banking and payments platform that lets consumers manage money, cards and payments through a single app.

$205mValuation
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FM30 UAEFintech

NymCard

NymCard builds MENA payments infrastructure including card issuing, lending and money movement, with a $33 million Series B led by QED Investors.

$182mValuation
FM30 UAEFintech

FlapKap

FlapKap provides revenue-based financing for MENA SMEs, with a $34 million pre-Series A led by BECO Capital.

$170mValuation
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FM featured UAELogistics

CargoX

UAE autonomous delivery platform running driverless last-mile, middle-mile and long-haul freight

FM featured UAEMedia & entertainment

Anghami

Arabic music and video streaming platform, first Arab tech company listed on Nasdaq

$220mValuation
FM featured UAEFintech

Deribit

Crypto options and futures exchange, headquartered in Dubai and owned by Coinbase since 2025

$2.9bnValuation
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FM featured UAERetail

Huda Beauty

Dubai-based cosmetics brand that grew from false lashes into a global make-up line

$1.2bnValuation
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UAEDeep tech

31 CONCEPT

31 CONCEPT is a UAE-based company that describes its platform as deep packet inspection built from a clean slate.

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UAEAI

Base

Base is building AI infrastructure for business operations that connects a company's tool stack and resolves it into one queryable company brain, built on a knowledge graph.

FM featured UAEFintech

Mal

AI-native Islamic digital bank being built in Abu Dhabi

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FM featured UAEFood & hospitality

Pure Harvest

Climate-controlled greenhouses growing fresh fruit and vegetables in the Gulf

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UAEProptech

Mifta

Mifta is an AI-powered rental brokerage in Dubai.

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UAELogistics

Ride Skipper

Ride Skipper is a UAE chauffeur service providing vetted professional drivers who drive customers in their own cars.

S
FM featured UAEFood & hospitality

SALT

Dubai burger brand that began as a beach food truck, now part of the Independent Food Company

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UAELogistics

RSA XB

RSA XB is a spin-out building software-first logistics for cross-border e-commerce, starting with routes from India to the UK, Europe and the GCC.

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UAEFintech

Orbii

Orbii is an intelligent lending infrastructure company that helps financial institutions and merchant platforms in MENA launch and scale lending programs.

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UAEHealthcare

Nabta Health

Nabta Health, headquartered in Sharjah, blends digital tools with conventional care for women.

FM featured UAERetail

Squatwolf

Dubai gymwear brand selling premium performance clothing online and in GCC stores

FM featured UAEDeep tech

Xpanceo

Dubai deep tech company developing a smart contact lens for extended reality and health data

$1.4bnValuation
FM featured UAEFintech

Optasia

AI credit scoring that lets mobile operators lend airtime and small loans to the unbanked

$1.4bnValuation
FM featured UAEFood & hospitality

Fade Fit

UAE healthy snack and protein brand founded by radio host Kris Fade

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UAEProptech

Prop-AI

Prop-AI is a real-estate AI startup, co-founded in 2023 by Christian Kunz and Ranime El-Skaff.

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UAERetail

Retailhub

Retailhub is a Dubai-based company bringing AI to grocery retail, helping retailers, FMCG brands and aggregators fix product availability and out-of-stock problems.

FM featured UAELogistics

Tomaso Rodriguez

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CEOCargoX

Grew talabat ninefold and took it public, now runs autonomous delivery platform CargoX

FM featured UAEFood & hospitality

Deem Al Bassam

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Co-founderSALT

Saudi food entrepreneur who co-founded SALT after opening Switch in Bahrain

FM featured UAERetail

Anam Khalid

Co-founder and Co-CEOSquatwolf

Left a decade in Fortune 500 HR to co-build Squatwolf, a Dubai gymwear brand sold worldwide

FM featured UAEFintech

John Jansen

Co-founder and former CEODeribit

Amsterdam options trader who co-founded the world's biggest crypto options exchange

FM featured UAEFintech

Marius Jansen

Co-founderDeribit

Early Bitcoin investor who co-founded Deribit with his brother John

FM featured UAERetail

Huda Kattan

H
Founder and CEOHuda Beauty

Beauty blogger who turned a $6,000 lash launch into a $1.2bn brand, then bought it back

FM featured UAEFood & hospitality

Kris Fade

FounderFade Fit

Virgin Radio Dubai host who turned his #FadeFit fitness posts into a snack brand

FM featured UAEFintech

Abdallah Abu-Sheikh

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FounderMal

Serial founder behind Lux, Rizek, Barq and Astra Tech, now building Islamic bank Mal

FM featured UAEFood & hospitality

Mohamad Ballout

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Co-founder and CEOKitopi

Confectionery entrepreneur turned Kitopi co-founder who built a UAE restaurant unicorn

FM featured UAEFood & hospitality

Amal Al Marri

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Co-founderSALT

Emirati designer who co-founded SALT and the Independent Food Company

FM featured UAEFintech

Bassim Haidar

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FounderOptasia

Nigerian-born Lebanese founder who turned airtime top-up data into credit for the unbanked

FM featured UAEFood & hospitality

Sky Kurtz

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Co-founder and CEOPure Harvest

Former tech investor who co-founded Pure Harvest to grow fresh produce in Gulf greenhouses

FM featured UAERetail

Wajdan Gul

Co-founder and Co-CEOSquatwolf

Ex-digital marketer who co-founded Squatwolf in a Dubai flat and took it to 120+ countries

FM featured UAELogistics

Gaurav Biswas

Founder and CEOTruKker

Former AECOM project director who left to build an app for booking lorries

FM featured UAEFintech

Junaid Wahedna

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Founder and Chairman, WahedWahed

Left Wall Street banking to build a halal investing app now backed by Saudi Aramco

FM featured UAEDeep tech

Roman Axelrod

Co-founder and Managing PartnerXpanceo

Serial founder building a smart contact lens, now valued at $1.35 billion

FM30 UAEHealthcare

Sophie Smith

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Founder and CEONabta Health

Former Accenture consultant whose Nabta Health blends digital tools with conventional care…

FM30 UAELogistics

Lauren Hamilton

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Founder and General ManagerRide Skipper

Started Ride Skipper, a UAE chauffeur service using customers' own cars, after a C-section

FM30 UAEAI

Caroline Hazlehurst

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Co-founder and CEOBase

Scaling executive; former Moove President and Calo COO, now Co-Founder and CEO of Base, AI…

FM30 UAEDeep tech

Misha Hanin

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Co-founder and CEO31 CONCEPT

Technology executive building UAE-based 31 CONCEPT to see inside encrypted network traffic

FM30 UAEProptech

Christian Kunz

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Co-founderProp-AI

Former McKinsey associate partner and DIFC strategy chief who co-founded real-estate AI…

FM30 UAEProptech

Alexander Pinheiro Liakos

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Co-founder and CEOMifta

Former venture capitalist and Antler founder co-building Mifta, an AI rental brokerage in…

FM30 UAERetail

Daniel Alimov

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Co-founder and CEORetailhub

Built a grocery delivery startup acquired by X5, now turning shelf photos into retail…

FM30 UAELogistics

Denis Konoplev

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Co-founder and CEORSA XB

Seafood Souq co-founder now running RSA XB, a software-first cross-border logistics spin-out

FM30 UAEFintech

Nauman Ali

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Co-founder and CEOOrbii

Computer scientist building credit infrastructure that helps lenders originate and manage…

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