Founders Media, the parent company of WAYA Media, has secured a strategic investment from Abu Dhabi-based Foras.ai in a move aimed at expanding bilingual business journalism across the Middle East and North Africa. Announced on April 6, the deal is intended to accelerate WAYA’s coverage of startups, venture capital, technology, and financial markets across Egypt, the Gulf, and the wider region. The transaction reflects growing confidence that specialized, bilingual business reporting can scale into a larger regional media business.
Strategic Investment
The transaction was advised and facilitated by Exits MENA, an investment advisory firm in which Foras.ai holds a stake and which focuses on supporting startups and SMEs through structuring, advisory, and execution. That involvement places the deal inside a wider network of investors, operators, and corporate relationships rather than treating it as a standalone funding event. It also suggests the partnership is designed to strengthen both editorial ambition and commercial execution at the same time.
WAYA has positioned itself as a bilingual media platform serving founders, operators, and investors through English and Arabic coverage of the region’s business and entrepreneurship landscape. Beyond its newsroom, the company also runs WAYA Works, its branded content unit, and WAYA Studio, which provides editorial production and content services for regional clients. The platform was co-founded by Gamal Helmy and HOF Capital, the New York-based technology investment firm that backed the business in its earlier stage.
Expansion Plan
According to the announcement, the new capital will be directed toward three main areas of growth across the business. These include expanding the editorial and operational team, building stronger data-driven content capabilities, and speeding up the development of video and new product formats that can extend WAYA’s reach across multiple platforms and audience segments. Taken together, those priorities point to a strategy centered on deeper reporting, broader distribution, and a more diversified digital media offering.
The investment also brings strategic value beyond funding, particularly through Foras.ai founder Mohamed Aboulnaga, known as Nagaty, whose network gives the company access to a large and highly engaged professional audience. Founders Media said that reach is expected to increase WAYA’s visibility inside the MENA business community while helping expand the commercial pipeline for WAYA Works and WAYA Studio. In practice, that means the partnership is structured to amplify readership, brand awareness, and client development at the same time.
Market Positioning
Foras.ai itself has been building a portfolio across technology-driven businesses and media-adjacent partnerships, with its public materials highlighting an investment-led strategy grounded in long-term growth and ecosystem development. The firm lists Exits MENA among its partners and describes its approach as one that combines capital with strategic involvement rather than passive ownership. That positioning makes the WAYA deal consistent with a broader thesis around backing platforms that can shape information flows, market access, and business influence in emerging markets.
Executives tied to the transaction framed the agreement as a pivotal step for a media company that wants to become a leading source of business news across Arab markets. Helmy said the partnership matches WAYA’s original mission to deliver rigorous and independent reporting in both Arabic and English, while Nagaty presented the move as part of a wider ambition to build a major distribution network for media and financial communication in the region. HOF Capital’s Onsi Sawiris likewise cast the investment as a way to turn early differentiation into stronger market leadership.
The announcement underscores a belief that bilingual, multi-format business journalism still has significant room to grow across MENA. By combining fresh capital with distribution support, commercial access, and product expansion, Founders Media is positioning WAYA for a more assertive regional role rather than incremental growth. If the company delivers on its newsroom, data, and video plans, the deal could become a meaningful benchmark for how specialized media platforms scale in the Arab world.