Saudi Arabia is poised to become one of the largest global construction hubs owing to its trillion-dollar infrastructure and the real estate projects that are underway in the country.
BRKZ is today emerging from stealth backed by a $8 million Series A round co-led by Beco Capital and 9900 Capital.
Aramco’s Wa’ed Ventures, Knollwood Investment Advisory, RZM Investment and MISY Ventures also participated in the round.
Following the fresh capital injection, the B2B marketplace aims to expand in Saudi Arabia and the MENA region to facilitate contractors in procuring materials and manufacturers in selling, with a focus on same or next-day delivery.
He added that the startup can process commonly ordered building materials within minutes, but more time is required for “specialized materials”.
The payment landscape in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region is marked by significant fragmentation, with numerous payment providers and methods in each country, evolving regulations and diverse customer preferences.
This complexity is further compounded by challenges such as payment fraud, low checkout conversion rates, and high transaction failure rates.
Payment orchestration platforms streamline payment processes for merchants through unified payment APIs.
As merchants or companies launch their platforms, they often start by collaborating with one or two payment processing providers.
As their operations grow and expand into multiple regions, they onboard additional payment providers to meet their evolving needs.
Dubai-based early-stage venture capital firm COTU Ventures is announcing that it has raised $54 million for its inaugural fund to support startups in the Middle East from pre-seed to seed stages.
Founder and general partner Amir Farha revealed in an interview with TechCrunch that COTU Ventures is inclined slightly towards fintech and B2B software.
Noteworthy investments by COTU Ventures include Huspy, a UAE mortgage platform backed by Peak XV and Founders Fund, and Egyptian fintech startup MoneyHash.
While at Beco Capital, Farha and his partner returned the first fund following Uber’s acquisition of Careem.
By fostering such open dialogue, COTU Ventures aims to establish trust and strong connections with founders, enabling informed investment decisions.
Honor of Kings, Tencent’s massively popular mobile game, has its eye set on the international market in 2024.
In part thanks to its success with loot boxes, Honor of Kings has been an enormous financial success for Tencent.
It was the world’s second-highest-grossing mobile game in December, trailing only after Monopoly Go!, according to market research firm Sensor Tower.
As of February 6, Honor of Kings had amassed over 2 million pre-registrations across MENA, Eastern Europe and South Asia.
With its flourishing gaming population, the MENA region will be an important test for Honor of Kings’ second try at global expansion.
The global re-commerce market is poised for growth as consumers increasingly settle for pre-owned goods to save on cost, and as some observe conscious consumption.
With the global re-commerce market expected to continue its growth spurt, C2C marketplaces like Saudi Arabia’s Soum are looking to capture users in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
Soum was founded in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 2021, and is now eyeing growth expansion to other MENA countries, beginning with the United Arabs Emirates.
Beyond expansion, the startup, whose top listings are electronics, is also increasing the categories it covers by including products like automobiles and collectibles.
This is the preposition that Soum brings to the table.”Soum manages the entire process from listing to delivery.
Flat6Labs is a seed-stage accelerator headquartered in Egypt that is looking to invest its first venture outside of the MENA region through a $95 million Africa Seed Fund investment vehicle.…
Schrems soon realized that the tech-solutions he was looking for were available all over the world, and that by simply switching to a global platform he could be integrating different…
