Moroccan LegalTech startup Charikaty has closed a Pre-Seed funding round at a €3 million (MAD 32.6 million) valuation, bringing Gulf investors on board as the company expands from digital business incorporation into accounting, compliance and other services covering the wider company lifecycle.

The round includes Dubai-based Red Tape Ventures, Faris Al-Obaid, Vice President and General Manager of Mastercard Kuwait, and Faris Abdi, a Saudi professional footballer at Al-Ittihad, alongside other undisclosed investors. The company did not disclose the amount raised.

Founded by Amr Mouaqit, Co-Founder and CEO, and Driss Sijelmassi, Co-Founder and COO, Charikaty plans to use the new capital to launch two ventures, expand its accounting and compliance offering, and prepare the accounting business for expansion into Egypt and GCC markets.

The strategy represents a significant evolution for a startup that began by tackling one of the earliest administrative challenges entrepreneurs face: legally creating a company.

“Company creation gave us a very clear place to start, but it also gave us a front-row view of what entrepreneurs need next,” Mouaqit said. “The ambition now is larger than the incorporation itself. We want to build around the lifecycle of the company.”

From Digital Incorporation to a Broader Business Platform

Charikaty enables entrepreneurs to incorporate several company structures in Morocco entirely online, including SARL, SARL AU, SAS and foreign subsidiaries, using a legalized electronic signature and upfront fixed pricing.

According to the company, the filing process can be completed in as little as three days.

It has also developed a dedicated channel for Morocco’s diaspora, serving Moroccans across more than 100 countries and allowing entrepreneurs abroad to establish companies without travelling to Morocco, appointing a proxy or attending a consular appointment.

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Beyond incorporation, Charikaty already provides statutory modifications, domiciliation, accounting packages, trademark filing and company dissolution.

Its client portal allows entrepreneurs to track their files in real time and keep official documents in one place, while each case is assigned to a named jurist.

The company now wants to build additional products around businesses acquired at the incorporation stage, effectively turning company formation into the entry point for a longer-term relationship with entrepreneurs.

Charikaty Launches Webaty as First New Venture

One of the first products emerging from that strategy is Webaty, a website-development venture launched in September.

The idea was driven by a recurring need among newly established companies using Charikaty: once an entrepreneur creates a business, establishing a digital presence is frequently one of the next steps.

Rather than offering identical website-development packages across businesses, Webaty starts with the company’s profession and the commercial outcome its website needs to deliver.

The service draws on playbooks covering more than 16 industry verticals, including e-commerce, construction, consulting, restaurants and short-term rentals.

“A restaurant and a consulting firm can both ask for a website, but they are not asking for the same outcome,” Sijelmassi explained. “One may need reservations, the other qualified enquiries. That difference changes what you build.”

Webaty can deliver an initial website version within 72 hours once the required content has been provided.

Accounting Venture Targets Egypt and GCC

A second venture focused on accounting and compliance is expected to launch later in September and represents a more explicitly regional component of Charikaty’s strategy.

The company is initially developing the product around Morocco’s accounting and tax framework, including the country’s incoming electronic invoicing requirements.

Charikaty ultimately intends to take the accounting venture beyond Morocco into Egypt and the GCC, where digitalisation of tax administration and electronic invoicing are creating opportunities for software platforms capable of adapting to different national regulations.

The founders see Morocco as a proving ground for the model before entering additional MENA markets.

The strategy comes as Morocco itself moves further toward digital company formation. More than 50,300 companies have been created electronically, while electronic incorporation accounted for 44% of total company creations in 2026, according to figures cited from the country’s Ministry of Industry and Commerce.

Gulf Investors Back Charikaty’s Regional Ambitions

The composition of Charikaty’s Pre-Seed round also connects the startup with the markets it intends to enter.

Investors from the UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are participating as Charikaty prepares to move from a primarily Morocco-focused LegalTech platform toward a broader regional business-services model.

The startup’s thesis is that many entrepreneurs continue to face fragmented services after incorporation, from accounting and compliance to branding and digital operations.

By acquiring businesses at the moment they are created, Charikaty believes it has an opportunity to become the platform through which founders access several of those subsequent services.

That shifts the company’s long-term opportunity beyond simply digitising incorporation.

For Mouaqit and Sijelmassi, the next test is whether the technology-led model they developed for Moroccan company creation can be extended across the rest of a company’s lifecycle — and eventually replicated across Egypt and the wider Gulf region.

Saudi venture capital firm STV has secured an investment from global alternative asset manager Arcapita for its Emerging Tech & AI Fund, strengthening an institutional investor base that already includes Google, regional semi-sovereign entities and endowments.

The companies did not disclose the size of Arcapita’s commitment.

STV’s fund targets early-stage startups developing application-layer technology and artificial intelligence products. Its mandate focuses on helping portfolio companies expand across the Middle East and North Africa while supporting their entry into international markets.

The partnership could also connect emerging technology companies with established businesses across the STV and Arcapita networks, creating opportunities for commercial agreements, technology adoption and knowledge exchange.

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Institutional Capital Targets Applied AI

Arcapita’s participation reflects growing institutional interest in AI businesses that build commercial products and services on top of foundational models and computing infrastructure.

STV said the application layer attracted more than $19 billion in enterprise spending during 2025, while AI-native companies generated twice as much revenue as incumbent providers. These figures underpin the firm’s thesis that emerging technology companies can capture increasing corporate spending as businesses move from AI experimentation toward practical deployment.

The fund will invest at the earliest stages, giving STV exposure to companies before they establish mature products or distribution. This approach carries greater execution risk but offers the potential to support startups as they shape new technology categories.

Arcapita brings more than three decades of investment experience to the partnership. The firm focuses on private equity and real estate and has completed transactions with a combined value exceeding $32 billion.

Four AI-Native Startups Join the Portfolio

The Emerging Tech & AI Fund has invested in four startups so far: Sawt, Clarity, Signit and Stream. Each company addresses a different business function, ranging from customer service to legal technology and financial operations.

Sawt develops Arabic-native AI voice agents for customer service, targeting organisations that need automated conversations tailored to the language requirements of regional users.

Clarity offers an agentic AI platform that analyses customer service operations. Its software is designed to help businesses examine interactions and extract information that can improve service performance and decision-making.

Signit is a Saudi legal technology startup applying artificial intelligence to legal workflows. Stream, meanwhile, provides billing and payment infrastructure for Saudi businesses.

The portfolio illustrates STV’s preference for applied AI products that solve specific operational problems rather than companies building foundational models or hardware infrastructure.

Connecting Startups With Established Businesses

Beyond capital, the STV-Arcapita relationship is expected to give portfolio companies greater access to potential enterprise customers and commercial partners.

For early-stage AI startups, reaching established businesses can be as important as product development. Enterprise sales often involve lengthy procurement processes, technology reviews and integration requirements that young companies may struggle to navigate without institutional relationships.

STV intends to use the combined networks to help startups demonstrate their products in commercial environments, potentially accelerating adoption across regional industries. Established companies, in turn, could gain earlier access to emerging AI tools relevant to their operations.

The addition of Arcapita expands the fund’s institutional backing without changing its early-stage investment strategy. STV will continue targeting application-layer companies with the potential to grow across MENA and enter markets beyond the region.

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) MENA has announced that the SHRM MENA Annual Conference & Expo 2026 will take place on 16–17 December 2026 at Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai. The flagship event will be preceded by pre-conference Masterclasses on 15 December and culminate in the prestigious SHRM MENA STAR Awards Gala Evening on 17 December. Positioned as a leading platform for workforce leadership in the region, the 2026 conference will introduce the HR + AI Lab, an experiential and solution-oriented hub designed to bridge the gap between artificial intelligence theory and practical enterprise deployment.

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As organizations across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) accelerate digital transformation and economic diversification under ambitious national visions, human resource leadership has moved to the center of executive business strategy. The 2026 conference is expected to bring together more than 2,000 senior HR executives, C-suite leaders and decision-makers representing over 1,000 organizations across the UAE, Saudi Arabia and the wider MENA region, alongside more than 100 CXOs and 50 global thought leaders, industry experts and speakers from leading international institutions. This diverse gathering will create world-class opportunities for participants to learn from global perspectives, engage in meaningful dialogue and build valuable professional connections.

Unlike traditional technology-focused summits, the 2026 event will place practical execution at the heart of the conversation. Through the dedicated HR + AI Lab, attendees will have access to live demonstrations, real-world case studies and expert-led problem-solving sessions focused on how artificial intelligence can be applied across the employee lifecycle. The Lab will explore practical applications across talent acquisition, talent development and total talent management, while providing leaders with actionable frameworks for integrating AI into their organizations and generating measurable business value.

“As global shifts in technology, work patterns, and talent dynamics redefine the modern economy, workforce leadership has become the vital engine driving business transformation across the MENA region. The SHRM MENA Annual Conference 2026 is engineered to give business and HR

leaders the exact tools, evidence-based research, and strategic foresight required to navigate these complexities and convert disruption into sustainable organizational performance,” said Achal Khanna, CEO – SHRM APAC & MENA.

The conference program will address some of the most pressing workforce priorities facing organizations across the GCC, examining where automation can optimize HR processes, where human judgment remains indispensable, and how businesses can establish responsible AI governance frameworks while strengthening local talent capabilities. The discussions will also explore how HR leaders can balance technological innovation with organizational culture, employee experience and long-term workforce development.

“Across the GCC and particularly in fast-evolving markets like the UAE and Saudi Arabia, organizations are seeking more than abstract conversations about the future of work. They need concrete strategies. With the introduction of the HR + AI Lab, we are moving the regional conversation from technology demos to real-world deployment. Our goal is to empower leaders to build actionable HR and AI blueprints that deliver tangible impact for their people and their bottom line,” said Vivek Arora, Managing Director – SHRM MENA.

The event will begin on 15 December 2026 with a series of pre-conference Masterclasses, offering immersive, deep-dive workshops led by global authorities in areas including critical HR capabilities, workforce analytics and leadership resilience. The main SHRM MENA Annual Conference & Expo will then take place on 16–17 December, bringing together distinguished international institutional speakers and featuring two days of keynote presentations, panel discussions, interactive strategy sessions and the immersive HR + AI Lab. Across the programme, attendees will benefit from world-class opportunities for learning, engagement and networking with senior leaders, experts and peers from across the region and beyond. The event will conclude on 17 December with the SHRM MENA STAR Awards Gala Evening, which will recognize outstanding achievements, innovation and leadership in human resource management across the region.

About SHRM MENA

SHRM MENA is the regional chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the world’s largest HR membership organization with over 340,000 members across 183 countries. SHRM empowers HR professionals and business leaders with the tools, resources, and global network required to create better workplaces and foster organizational transformation.