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Saudi Arabia Retains Top Spot for Venture Capital Investment in the Middle East For 2024
The Kingdom recorded total VC funding of $750 million (SAR 2.8 billion) in 2024
Saudi Arabia has cemented its position as the leading destination for venture capital (VC) investments in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, according to the “Emerging Markets Venture Capital Report 2024” released by MAGNiTT. The Kingdom recorded total VC funding of $750 million (SAR 2.8 billion) in 2024, capturing a significant 40% share of total venture capital investments across the region.
Record Number of Deals in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia saw a record-breaking 178 VC deals in 2024, reinforcing its appeal as a competitive and robust market. These numbers highlight the Kingdom’s strong economic foundation and its role as the largest economy in the MENA region.
Despite the overall decline in venture funding across the Middle East, Saudi Arabia maintained its dominance for the second consecutive year. This achievement underscores the country’s growing entrepreneurial ecosystem and its commitment to supporting innovation and startups.
Regional Trends in Venture Capital
While Saudi Arabia led the MENA region in funding, overall venture capital investment in the region saw a decline. The total funding dropped by 29% to $1.5 billion, even though the number of deals increased by 10% to 471 transactions. This shift reflects investors’ growing focus on early-stage funding, which accounted for a higher percentage of deals compared to later-stage investments.
“The regional VC ecosystem has pivoted towards early-stage investments as investors respond to rising capital costs and changing market dynamics,” said Philip Bahoshy, CEO of MAGNiTT.
In contrast, the UAE, another major player in the MENA region, experienced an 8% decline in total venture funding, reaching $613 million in 2024.
Decline in Mega Deals and Exits
The report also noted a decline in mega funding rounds (those exceeding $100 million), which represented less than 20% of total funding in 2024 compared to 30% in 2021. Additionally, venture capital exits, a key metric for the industry, dropped by 20% across the region.
Despite these challenges, the outlook for 2025 remains optimistic. According to Allen Taylor, Managing Partner at Endeavor Catalyst, the region is expected to see a resurgence in liquidity through mergers, acquisitions, and initial public offerings (IPOs), particularly in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia’s IPO Pipeline
The Kingdom is poised to see several high-profile IPOs in 2025, with companies such as Tabby, Tamara, Trukker, Floward, and Unifonic preparing for public listings. These IPOs are expected to inject fresh momentum into the venture capital ecosystem and attract global investor interest.
“Saudi Arabia continues to lead the way in VC funding, driven by its strong economic reforms and focus on fostering innovation,” said Taylor.
Looking Ahead
While the MENA region faces challenges in securing large-scale funding rounds, Saudi Arabia’s focus on Vision 2030 initiatives, which emphasize entrepreneurship and technological innovation, is set to sustain its leadership position. With anticipated IPOs and increased investor confidence, the Kingdom’s venture capital market is poised for significant growth in the coming years.
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MoneyHash Partners With Geidea to Give Businesses Unified Access to Payment Infrastructure Across Saudi Arabia, UAE and Egypt
Payment orchestration platform MoneyHash has partnered with regional fintech Geidea, enabling businesses to access Geidea’s online payment gateway and supported payment methods across Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt through a single MoneyHash integration.
Payment orchestration platform MoneyHash has partnered with regional payments company Geidea to expand the payment capabilities available to businesses across Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt.
Through the partnership, companies already integrated with MoneyHash will be able to access Geidea’s online payment gateway and supported payment methods without building and maintaining a separate technical integration.
The collaboration adds Geidea to MoneyHash’s unified payment infrastructure, allowing merchants to manage its services alongside other payment providers and methods through the same orchestration layer.
One Integration for Multiple Payment Providers
MoneyHash is building infrastructure designed to reduce the technical complexity businesses face when operating multiple payment providers.
Traditionally, companies expanding into new markets often need to integrate separately with different gateways, acquirers and local payment methods. Each additional integration requires engineering resources to build, maintain and monitor, making payment infrastructure increasingly complex as businesses scale.
Payment orchestration platforms address that problem by creating a common infrastructure layer connecting businesses to multiple providers through a single integration.
Under the new partnership, businesses using MoneyHash can activate Geidea’s capabilities within that existing infrastructure rather than creating a separate connection.
“Businesses should be spending their time building great products, serving customers, and growing into new markets, not repeatedly rebuilding and maintaining payment infrastructure,” said Nader Abdelrazik, CEO and Co-founder of MoneyHash.
“Bringing its strong regional payment capabilities into the MoneyHash ecosystem gives businesses a simpler way to access the infrastructure they need while we take care of the complexity behind the scenes.”
Geidea Adds Regional Payment Capabilities
Founded in Saudi Arabia in 2008, Geidea has developed into a regional payments provider operating across Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt.
The company has payment acquiring capabilities in Saudi Arabia and the UAE and payment aggregation capabilities in Egypt. Its broader offering includes online payment gateways, point-of-sale systems, payment terminals and business management tools.
Integrating those capabilities into MoneyHash gives merchants another route to accessing payment infrastructure across three major Middle Eastern and North African markets.
Pankaj Kundra, CEO of Geidea UAE, said the partnership is designed to give businesses greater flexibility in managing payments as they expand.
“Our collaboration with MoneyHash makes Geidea’s payment capabilities easier to access through a flexible, connected infrastructure,” Kundra said. “Together, we’re giving businesses greater choice and flexibility in how they manage payments and scale across the region.”
MoneyHash Targets Payment Complexity in Emerging Markets
MoneyHash provides a payment orchestration platform that allows businesses to integrate and operate multiple payment services through a single API.
Its infrastructure includes smart payment routing, multi-currency processing and a unified dashboard, allowing companies to manage different parts of their payment stack from one system.
That model is particularly relevant for companies operating across multiple markets, where payment preferences, providers and infrastructure can vary considerably between countries.
Instead of replacing individual payment providers, MoneyHash acts as the infrastructure connecting them, allowing businesses to add or change payment capabilities without rebuilding significant parts of their underlying payment systems.
Partnership Targets a More Flexible Regional Payments Stack
The collaboration comes as digital businesses across the region increasingly operate across borders, creating demand for payment infrastructure capable of adapting to different markets and customer preferences.
For MoneyHash, adding Geidea strengthens the range of regional payment capabilities accessible through its orchestration platform. For Geidea, the integration provides another distribution channel through which businesses can access its services.
The partnership was marked during Seamless Middle East in Dubai, where Abdelrazik and Kundra met ahead of the official announcement.
As both companies expand their presence in the region’s digital payments ecosystem, the integration is designed to give merchants greater flexibility to activate new payment services and enter additional markets without repeatedly rebuilding their payment infrastructure.
News
Qatar Leading Super-App Snoonu Launches Cross-Border Commerce Platform, Allowing Regional Brands to Enter Qatar Without Local Presence
Qatar-based super-app Snoonu has launched a cross-border commerce platform enabling regional retailers and brands to sell directly to consumers in Qatar without establishing a physical presence or separate local operation.
Qatar-based super-app Snoonu has launched Snoonu Cross-Border, a new commerce platform designed to give retailers, distributors and brands across the region a simpler route into the Qatari market.
The platform allows selected regional merchants to reach consumers in Qatar through Snoonu’s existing digital marketplace and delivery infrastructure, removing several of the operational barriers traditionally associated with entering a new market.
Through the service, consumers can discover and order products from regional brands directly through Snoonu, while participating merchants can access the company’s customer ecosystem and marketplace traffic without opening a physical store in Qatar.
Entering Qatar Without a Physical Store
Snoonu Cross-Border is aimed particularly at regional retailers, distributors and wholesalers seeking to test demand or expand their businesses into Qatar.
Under the model, merchants can operate using their existing business registration in their country of origin, without establishing a standalone customer and delivery operation or obtaining separate legal registration in Qatar.
Snoonu manages the customer journey within its ecosystem, from product discovery and ordering through to local delivery.
The model is intended to reduce the operational and legal complexity of cross-border expansion while providing brands with a local channel through which they can test and scale their presence.
“Regional commerce is increasingly about connecting markets, not simply opening physical stores,” said Hamad Mubarak Al-Hajri, Founder and CEO of Snoonu.
“With Cross-Border, we are creating a simpler path for brands across the region to reach customers in Qatar, while giving consumers access to more products and brands from across our region. This is another step in Snoonu’s journey to connect markets and build a more seamless digital commerce ecosystem.”
Regional Brands Already Joining the Platform
The platform is already onboarding brands across several high-demand categories, including electronics and gaming, sports nutrition, toys and games, and kitchen and home supplies.
Brands currently available through Snoonu Cross-Border include LMNT, ORS, SIS, Humantra, Ultima, Boya, Thorne, Sporter, Valeo and Devo.
By integrating these products into its existing marketplace, Snoonu is seeking to make cross-border shopping operate more like a local e-commerce experience for consumers in Qatar.
For merchants, the platform provides an alternative to committing significant resources to a new market before establishing demand, allowing businesses to access Qatar through Snoonu’s existing infrastructure.
Part of Snoonu’s Regional Growth Strategy
The launch forms part of Snoonu’s broader strategy to strengthen commerce links between businesses and consumers across the region.
Founded in 2019, Snoonu operates a Qatar-based super-app spanning e-commerce, on-demand services, q-commerce, last-mile logistics and B2B solutions.
With Cross-Border, the company is extending that infrastructure beyond domestic merchants by positioning its marketplace as a gateway for regional businesses seeking access to Qatar.
As the company pursues wider regional growth, Snoonu said the new platform is intended to make it easier for brands to test, enter and scale in the Qatari market, while expanding the range of products available to local consumers.
Regional businesses interested in joining the platform can register through Snoonu Cross-Border’s international sellers portal.
News
Elon Musk’s The Boring Company Raises $3 Billion at $23 Billion Valuation to Build 150km of Tunnels Across UAE
Elon Musk’s The Boring Company has raised $3 billion in a Series D round led by UAE-based entities, valuing the tunneling startup at $23 billion as it prepares to deploy more than 150 kilometers of underground transport infrastructure across the UAE.
Elon Musk’s tunneling startup The Boring Company has secured $3 billion in Series D funding, reaching a $23 billion valuation as it prepares for its largest international infrastructure expansion to date.
The round was led by UAE-based entities and included participation from Shamal Holding, Vy Capital, Human Capital, Valor Equity Partners, Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Temasek and Baron Capital, alongside other existing and new investors.
The new capital will support plans to deploy more than 150 kilometers of underground infrastructure across the UAE, building on the company’s existing collaboration in the country through the Dubai Loop project.
“Building upon significant existing success collaborating with the UAE on Dubai Loop, this strategic investment will accelerate the partnership to deploy mass quantities of underground infrastructure across the UAE,” The Boring Company said.
From Dubai Loop to a UAE-Wide Underground Network
The new investment significantly expands the scale of The Boring Company’s ambitions in the Emirates.
The company had already secured the Dubai Loop project, which is intended to introduce its tunnel-based transportation system to Dubai. The newly announced 150-kilometer deployment comes in addition to that previously awarded project.
The Boring Company’s Loop model uses underground tunnels to transport passengers, with the company pointing to its existing operation in Las Vegas as evidence that the technology has moved beyond its experimental stage.
According to Shamal Holding, the company’s Loop system has transported more than four million passengers in Las Vegas since 2021.
“The technology has moved beyond proof of concept,” Shamal Holding said, without disclosing the size of its investment in the latest round.
The UAE expansion would represent a major increase in the scale at which the technology is deployed internationally, extending underground infrastructure across the country rather than limiting operations to a single demonstration route.
$23 Billion Valuation
The Series D financing values The Boring Company at $23 billion, giving Musk’s infrastructure venture substantial new capital to pursue its growing project pipeline.
The round brings together several major global investment firms alongside UAE investors, reflecting investor appetite for the company’s underground mobility technology as it moves into larger commercial deployments.
The company has spent years developing systems intended to reduce congestion by moving transportation infrastructure underground.
Its most established commercial deployment remains the Vegas Loop, while the company has also expanded its pipeline into other markets.
In 2026, The Boring Company broke ground on another tunnel project in Nashville, Tennessee, alongside its expansion plans in Dubai and the wider UAE.
UAE Emerges as a Major Market for The Boring Company
The funding positions the UAE as one of the most important markets in The Boring Company’s next stage of growth.
Rather than deploying a limited pilot, the company plans more than 150 kilometers of tunnels, potentially creating one of the world’s largest deployments of its underground transportation infrastructure.
The expansion also comes as the UAE continues investing heavily in next-generation transportation, artificial intelligence and advanced infrastructure, while attracting global technology companies seeking large-scale environments in which to deploy emerging technologies.
For The Boring Company, the combination of fresh capital and a major UAE deployment could provide an opportunity to demonstrate whether its Loop technology can scale from individual projects into a much broader transportation network.
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