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Welcome to another edition of 🔍 Startup Researcher - Middle East, your essential digest delivering the latest news and premium insights on startups and venture capital across the region 🌏️
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📰 Important News
- PhotonPay secured a Category 3D license from the Dubai Financial Services Authority, marking its first licence in the UAE.
- NEO PAY partnered with CredibleX to provide SMEs with direct access to working capital by integrating lending solutions into its payment ecosystem.
- Shahbandr and Tabby partnered to integrate buy-now, pay-later services across 20,000 online stores in Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
- Soter Insure and Dubai Insurance partnered to offer innovative insurance policies denominated in Bitcoin and Ether.
- Luma AI opened a Riyadh office to expand into the Middle East and partnered with Publicis Groupe to boost AI-driven advertising.
💸 Top Funding Rounds
- SiFi secured a $20 million Series A round led by Ra’ed Ventures to expand its AI-powered spend management platform.
- Riyadh-based fintech and proptech Safqah Capital raised $15.2 million in one of the largest seed funding rounds in Saudi Arabia.
- Smart Bricks landed a $5 million pre-seed roundto build an AI platform that gives individual real estate investors institutional-grade analytical tools.
- iBLOXX Studios obtained $5.4 million to finalize development and support the global launch of its third-person shooter, StrayShot.
- InvestSky entered the Saudi market with a CMA permit and a $4 million seed round, partnering with anb Capital to provide accessible investing tools.
💰️ IPO and M&A Watch
- Emergence acquired Dubai automotive AI firm AlgoDriven in an all-cash deal to expand into the U.S. and Latin American markets.
- Singapore-based business services platform Ascentium acquired UAE-based regtech and corporate service provider Clara.
- Global tech leader NTT DATA acquired Zero&One, a premier AWS partner in the MENA region, to bolster its cloud service offerings.
- PIF-owned AI company HUMAIN acquired a controlling stake in London-based sports tech firm ai.io to launch HUMAIN Sport.
🏦 About Investors
- Masna Ventures launched a $100 million fund for Saudi defense tech, aiming to localize 50% of military expenditure by 2030.
- BlueFive Capital established BlueFive Leasing, a GCC-based aircraft platform, with an Omani sovereign partner to raise over $1 billion for its first fund.
- Palestinian-founded ticketing platform Tzkrti launched its Cultural Impact Fund to provide biannual $3,000 microgrants supporting independent artists and organizers.
🚀 Startup of the Week
Introducing our Startup of the Week 🏆
SiFi
Simplified Financial Solutions Company, better known as SiFi, has emerged as one of Saudi Arabia’s most watched fintechs since its 2021 launch in Riyadh by co-founder and CEO Ahmed AlHakbani, building cloud-native tools that help businesses issue corporate cards, automate expense reporting, and tightly control spend through a unified platform. After an earlier seed round, this week SiFi closed a $20 million Series A led by Ra’ed Ventures, with participation from global backers including QED Investors, Breyer Capital, and MEVP, bringing total funding past $34 million. The company is now scaling its AI-powered workflows and expanding across Saudi Arabia’s corporate market, reinforcing its mission to simplify financial operations and redefine spend management across the Kingdom.
💼 Investor of the Week
Introducing our Investor of the Week 🏆
Masna Ventures
Masna Ventures, co-founded by Lucien Zeigler and Nehal Farooqui, has emerged in 2026 as a distinctive venture capital player at the intersection of regional ambition and global defense technology. Based in Riyadh, the firm is launching Saudi Arabia’s first defense-focused VC fund, targeting approximately $100 million through Masna Ventures Fund I to back around ten high-impact deals. The strategy focuses on bringing proven US and allied defense technologies into local manufacturing and scale-up in the Kingdom. By aligning with Vision 2030, Masna positions itself as a bridge between Western innovation and Saudi industrialization, aiming to catalyze a more self-sufficient, tech-driven defense ecosystem.
🤑 Opportunities Expiring Soon
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- 📢 Organizer: KBC Group
- 🗂️ Category: Accelerator
- 🪜 Target Stages: Stage Agnostic
- 🏭 Focus Sectors: Sector Agnostic
- 📅 Application Deadline: February 16, 2026
RIOT Startup Accelerator
- 📢 Organizer: RIOT
- 🗂️ Category: Accelerator
- 🪜 Target Stages: Stage Agnostic
- 🏭 Focus Sectors: Sector Agnostic
- 📅 Application Deadline: February 20, 2026
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- 📢 Organizer: gener8tor
- 🗂️ Category: Accelerator, Training & Learning
- 🪜 Target Stages: Ideation, Pre-seed, Seed
- 🏭 Focus Sectors: Energy & Environment, DeepTech
- 📅 Application Deadline: February 22, 2026
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