UAE
Fintech
+4
Jul 17, 2026
•
1 min read
Revolut wins in-principle approval from Dubai's VARA to offer crypto services in the UAE
The Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority approval covers broker-dealer, exchange, and management and investment services, and lands a month after Revolut completed its Central Bank licensing for payments, stacking a second regulatory pillar under a UAE launch that has yet to be given a date.
Fintech
+2
Jul 13, 2026
•
2 min read
Tabby launches Tabby Cash, its first product on the UAE wallet licence, as it pushes beyond BNPL
The fee-free spending account, offering up to 3% cashback and free local transfers, and arrives alongside a rebrand positioning the $4.5 billion company as an everyday money management platform rather than a BNPL provider.
Funding
+3
Jul 10, 2026
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2 min read
Azraq raises oversubscribed pre-seed to price the risk behind the Gulf's data centre boom
The Abu Dhabi-based platform replaces the static, up-to-$1-million consultant reports underwriting data centre finance with continuous, lender-grade risk intelligence, and marks the first publicised graduate of the Utopia platform's co-build studio model.
Startups
+3
Jul 9, 2026
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1 min read
Keyper raises $11M Series A to expand monthly rent payments in the UAE
Led by Speedinvest with Mashreq's NeoVentures, Dubai Future District Fund, Property Finder and Arab National Bank participating, the platform has financed more than $44 million in rent since launch.
News
+2
Jul 3, 2026
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2 min read
OSN proposes taking Anghami private two years after buying control
The streaming group, which owns around 67% of the Nasdaq-listed Arab music platform, has offered $3.39 a share in cash for the rest, the stock's three-month volume-weighted average rather than a premium, and has told the board it will not sell its stake to a third party, effectively ruling out a rival bid.
Fintech
+3
Jul 3, 2026
•
1 min read
Beehive completes majority acquisition of Saudi debt crowdfunding platform Themar
The deal makes the Dubai-born SME lender the first digital SME financing platform regulated across the UAE, Oman and Saudi Arabia, converting a Saudi presence run through banking partnerships since 2020 into a fully regulated operation. Terms were not disclosed.
Agritech
+3
Jul 3, 2026
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1 min read
Maalexi raises $2.8M led by Saudi insurer Tawuniya as it builds a tokenised agricultural exchange
The oversubscribed round brings the Tadawul-listed insurer onto the cap table of the UAE agri-fintech alongside returning lead Global Ventures, as Maalexi positions for a Series A and layers a regulated real-world asset exchange on top of its trade-verification platform.
Fintech
+2
Jun 25, 2026
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2 min read
Lean and Ziina launch one-tap Pay by Bank top-ups, the UAE's first recurring Open Finance payment experience
Built on Lean's Deposits product, the feature lets Ziina users link a bank account once and top up their wallet with a single tap, moving Pay by Bank in the UAE past one-off transactions and into the repeat, low-friction flows that drive daily use.
Healthtech
+2
Jun 25, 2026
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1 min read
BioSapien wins Abu Dhabi regulatory approvals to begin Phase I cancer trials for its MediChip platform
The Department of Health, the Emirates Drug Establishment and an institutional review board have cleared the 3D-printed chemotherapy implant for first-in-human trials, with patient enrolment in colorectal cancer expected to begin within weeks.
Funding
+4
Jun 24, 2026
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2 min read
Abu Dhabi's MGX raises close to $50B in one of the largest AI funds ever
The firm has assembled a portfolio spanning frontier models, semiconductor infrastructure and data centres, with stakes including OpenAI and xAI.
Fintech
+3
Jun 19, 2026
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2 min read
Lean Technologies launches Pay by Bank suite on UAE Open Finance rails
Unveiled at the company's first hosted event in Dubai on 18 June, the suite groups account-to-account payments into deposits, collections, checkouts and a low-code payment links product, and arrives with Lean reporting more than 20 billion dirhams in payments processed to date.
News
+3
Jun 19, 2026
•
1 min read
Dubizzle Group invests in rental rewards startup Tern, integrating it exclusively into Bayut and dubizzle
The strategic investment embeds Tern's credit-card rent payment and loyalty product into the group's two flagship UAE property portals, and comes eight months after the classifieds operator postponed its planned $2 billion Dubai IPO.
Fintech
+2
Jun 18, 2026
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1 min read
Revolut secures full UAE central bank licences, completing its regulatory path to launch
The Stored Value Facilities and Retail Payment Services (Category II) licences from the Central Bank of the UAE complete a process that began with in-principle approval in September 2025, and clear the London-based fintech to build out its local product ahead of going live.
Fintech
+2
Jun 17, 2026
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2 min read
UAE's Alaan launches AI-native business bank account in partnership with Islamic bank ruya
The account folds corporate cards, domestic and cross-border supplier payments, invoice automation and accounting into a single platform.
Startups
+4
Jun 16, 2026
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1 min read
UAE's CNTXT AI closes $60M Series A co-led by AI71 and BlueFive Capital to scale sovereign AI infrastructure
The round is led in part by AI71, the Abu Dhabi applied-AI company that acquired founder Mohammad Abu Sheikh's previous venture and now returns as an investor, and lands weeks after CNTXT AI's acquisition of Gulf-dialect voice startup Actualize.
News
+2
Jun 9, 2026
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2 min read
Algebra AI emerges from stealth with $7M to bring managed AI operations to the GCC mid-market
Led by Anis Harb, former head of Deliveroo's Middle East business, the round was backed by Infinity Constellation, BECO Capital, Silicon Badia and Waseel Investments.
News
+4
Jun 5, 2026
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2 min read
Anthropic files for IPO after $65bn round at $965B valuation as QIA and MGX both deepen Gulf stakes
The filing makes Anthropic the third major AI company to move toward a public listing in 2026, following Cerebras, which listed on the Nasdaq in May at a $70B valuation, and ahead of rival OpenAI.
Startups
+4
Jun 5, 2026
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1 min read
CNTXT AI acquires Actualize to power Arabic voice agents across the GCC
Actualize develops Arabic voice models built natively for Gulf dialects with a research team drawn from Google, Nokia and Siemens.
News
+2
Jun 3, 2026
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1 min read
Dubai's du launches $50m corporate venture fund managed by Shorooq
The mandate adds another vehicle to a rapid expansion at Shorooq, which also launched the $100 million Presight-Shorooq Fund I, in partnership with G42's ADX-listed AI arm Presight in late 2025.
Startups
+4
Jun 2, 2026
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2 min read
Ex-talabat chief Tomaso Rodriguez to lead $250M autonomous delivery venture CargoX
The funding round, led by Abu Dhabi's BlueFive Capital, reunites Rodriguez with the delivery sector seven months after he stepped down as talabat chief executive, and follows BlueFive's record $230m seed into the Islamic digital bank Mal in January.
