Author: Editorial Board

Zeal, the payments technology company bringing loyalty and merchant intelligence to payment terminals, today announced a $10 million funding round, taking its total funding to $14 million. Zeal secures $10 million for global expansionThe company is not disclosing the participants in this round. Zeal has signed contracts with payment acquirers globally to activate its technology on more than four million card machines over the next 24 months. The funding will support that rollout, deepen integrations across payment environments and expand the tools merchants and payment providers use to understand their businesses. Zeal expects its coverage to grow as it expands…

UAE-based AI e-commerce startup Keep Converting has raised $2 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Nuwa Capital and COTU Ventures, emerging from stealth as it looks to reshape how online stores convert visitors into customers. Founded in 2025 by Mohammad El Mougi and Manuel Prinz, Keep Converting has developed an AI-native conversion optimisation platform that dynamically creates personalised product-page experiences for individual shoppers. Rather than showing every visitor the same product page, the technology adapts content based on signals such as where the shopper came from, their behaviour and what they appear to be searching for. For example,…

Saudi venture capital firm STV has secured an investment from global alternative investment manager Arcapita for its Emerging Tech & AI Fund, strengthening the fund’s institutional investor base as it targets early-stage artificial intelligence companies across the region. The size of Arcapita’s commitment was not disclosed. The investment brings Arcapita alongside existing institutional backers including Google, regional semi-sovereign entities and endowment investors. Focus on the AI Application Layer STV’s Emerging Tech & AI Fund focuses on early-stage, application-layer technology and AI startups, with a mandate to help promising companies scale across the Middle East and North Africa and into international…

Saudi Arabia-based enterprise AI startup Gaia has raised $1.5 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Seedra Ventures, as the company looks to accelerate the development and adoption of its sovereign AI platform for enterprises. Founded in 2026 by Badr Al-Malluh, Co-Founder and CEO, and Mohammad Rababah, Co-Founder and CPTO, Gaia is building an AI infrastructure layer designed to bring an organisation’s knowledge, files, emails, business systems and workflows into a unified environment. Unlike enterprise AI solutions that require organisational information to move outside a company’s infrastructure, Gaia positions data sovereignty and security at the centre of its platform.…

Kuwait-based edtech startup Dawraty has raised $2 million in Seed funding, with backing from Qatar Development Bank (QDB), as the company looks to expand its AI-powered learning infrastructure across the Gulf and wider region. The round values Dawraty at $10 million and remains open to additional co-investors, with a final close expected by the end of November 2026. Founded by Dr. Ryan Dougherty and Hamad AlThunayan, Dawraty operates a bilingual, AI-powered education platform designed for institutions delivering professional and accredited learning in Arabic and English. Rather than focusing primarily on direct-to-consumer education, the startup works with universities, medical colleges, hospitals,…

Saudi Arabia-founded fintech PayTabs Group has agreed to acquire Amazon Payment Services’ operations across the Middle East and North Africa in a transaction valued at more than $100 million, marking one of the region’s most significant payments deals of 2026. The transaction, approved by both parties, will bring Amazon Payment Services’ regional payments business under PayTabs and significantly expand the Saudi fintech’s scale across MENA. Following completion, the combined operation is expected to process more than SAR 150 billion ($40 billion) in transactions annually, strengthening PayTabs’ position as one of the region’s largest payment infrastructure providers. Founded in 2014 by…

Abu Dhabi-based Creative Investments Holding (Creative Holding) has secured $20 million in initial commitments at the first close of its founding round, as the investment company works toward a total platform of up to $50 million. The initial commitments remain subject to definitive agreements. Creative Holding is positioning itself as a long-term investment platform focused on building and scaling culture-driven brands from Egypt and the wider MENA region into international businesses. The company was established by luxury and brand executive Mohamed Talaat Khalifa (MTK) through his investment arm Leo Equities, alongside founding investors Onsi Sawiris, Ali Abubakr, and Egypt’s Micro,…

Saudi Arabia-based AI startup Velents has expanded into Bahrain through a strategic partnership with stc Bahrain, strengthening the company’s growing footprint across the Middle East. The agreement, signed on the sidelines of LEAP 2026 in Riyadh, will see the two companies introduce an exclusive suite of agentic AI solutions designed for enterprise customers across Bahrain. Under the partnership, Velents’ technology will be integrated into stc Bahrain’s B2B offering, giving local businesses access to autonomous digital agents through an established local technology provider. The solutions are designed to automate complex workflows, reduce manual processes and support faster decision-making across enterprise operations.…

UAE-based fintech Sav has secured $3.5 million in a Pre-Series A funding round led by Abu Dhabi-based Phoenix Venture Partners, as the company prepares to expand into Saudi Arabia and scale its AI-powered personal finance platform across the GCC. The round also saw participation from co-investors within the investor base of the Phoenix Venture Partners Innovation Fund. The new financing brings Sav’s total funding raised to approximately $6 million, following around $2.5 million secured in earlier rounds. Founded in 2022 by Purvi Munot and Mithil Ajmera, Sav is building a consumer financial ecosystem designed to bring multiple aspects of an…

Saudi e-commerce platform Salla has acquired payments company Paylink, strengthening its fintech capabilities as it moves toward a more integrated commerce and financial services ecosystem for merchants. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Paylink is a Saudi fintech company licensed by the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) to provide e-commerce payment services. The company has built payment infrastructure enabling businesses and merchants to accept and manage electronic payments across different methods, currencies and sales scenarios. For Salla, the acquisition represents a significant expansion beyond its core e-commerce offering. By integrating Paylink’s technology and regulatory capabilities, Salla plans to…