Cofe closes a round at a $178m valuation during LEAP

Cofe for Technology completed an investment round valuing the company at $178m during LEAP 2026, led by Wa'ed Ventures, Saudi Aramco's venture arm, with Adetem Investment Management, Musrrah for Investment and Al Yasra Foods taking part. The company said the round supports its expansion across regional markets and prepares it for a listing it is targeting on a Saudi capital market by 2029. The announcement was reported in Arabic. The amount raised has not been published — only the valuation the round was struck at, which is a different number and a less informative one. Naming a listing target five years out is the unusual part. Most companies raising private money in the Gulf talk about an eventual listing in the abstract; putting a year and a venue on it is a signal aimed at the investors in this round rather than at the public. It tells them what the exit is meant to be and roughly when. It also sets a standard the company can be held to: 2029 is close enough that anyone can check. Wa'ed Ventures leading is the second thing worth noting. Aramco's venture arm has backed the company before — a $15m Series B led by Wa'ed Ventures and eWTP Arabia was reported in 2023 — so this is an existing investor writing another cheque rather than a new name validating the business. That is a reasonable signal, though a weaker one than a fresh lead would be, and it is common enough at this stage: the investors who already own a position are the ones who best understand what they are buying. Al Yasra Foods appearing on the cap table points at the operating side of the business. A food and consumer distribution group investing in a technology company that serves coffee retailers is a strategic position rather than a purely financial one, and those tend to come with commercial arrangements attached. None have been described. The company is reported to serve more than 1,000 customers across roughly 3,000 outlets in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. Those are the company's own figures as carried in Arabic coverage, and they describe a business selling into coffee retail across three Gulf markets rather than a consumer app alone. Saudi Arabia is the market that matters for the listing plan. A company intending to float on a Saudi exchange needs Saudi revenue, and the years between now and 2029 are the ones in which it has to build it. The venue also shapes the story it will have to tell: Saudi listings have absorbed a steady run of consumer and technology names, and the market has been receptive to companies with a clear domestic footprint. LEAP has become a place where Gulf funding rounds are timed to land. Investors representing around $14.3 trillion in assets under management were on the startup floor this week , the Rocket Fuel competition narrowed 3,000 applicants to 100 finalists , and other rounds have been announced against the same backdrop, including a $7.1m raise by the proptech Ghanem . The number to watch is not the valuation. It is whether the company publishes revenue growth in the Saudi market over the next two years, because that is what a 2029 listing will be priced on. TechScoop is reporting from LEAP 2026 in Riyadh.