The biggest MENA startup rounds since LEAP 2026

A funding stretch, not just a conference LEAP 2026 dominated headlines for its infrastructure and AI announcements, but the weeks that followed it turned out to be just as consequential for startup funding across the region. Between fintech mega-rounds, AI seed deals, logistics and mobility raises, and a handful of acquisitions, MENA startups pulled in capital across nearly every stage and sector. This is TechScoop's tracker of the largest and most notable rounds since LEAP 2026 wrapped, organized by sector rather than as a flat list. Fintech's biggest deals No other sector in this tracker comes close to matching fintech's combined round size in the same period, which is why it opens this roundup rather than following a strict chronological order. Fintech produced the single largest deals of the period. Tabby closed a $233 million Series F at a $6.5 billion valuation . barq followed with an even larger headline number: a $329.5 million Series A , among the biggest Series A rounds Saudi fintech has produced. Embedded finance infrastructure provider Tarabut secured $50 million to deepen its Saudi push, while Lendo and Quantic launched a $200 million SME financing programme built to move institutional capital into small-business credit. Rize, the rent-now-pay-later proptech platform, secured a $50 million facility from Jadwa Investment, and AI lending-infrastructure startup Abwab.ai raised a smaller but strategically notable $4 million seed round — the first Saudi investment from European VC Speedinvest. AI startups raising smaller, more numerous rounds Where fintech produced size, AI produced volume. A cluster of AI startups raised seed and Series A rounds in the same window: Synapse Analytics closed a $13 million Series A led by Partech, Gaia raised $1.5 million in a Seedra-led pre-seed, RIME brought in more than $2 million, Keep Converting raised $2 million to bring AI into e-commerce conversion, Stellaria (rebranded from Farmin) closed $6.8 million to scale geospatial AI out of the UAE, and Oro raised $3 million for an AI-powered financial execution platform. None of these individually rival the fintech mega-rounds, but together they show a broad base of AI-focused capital deployment well beyond the handful of headline names. Logistics, mobility and commerce Outside fintech and AI, logistics and commerce startups also raised meaningfully. Syarah, the online vehicle marketplace, took $12 million from Impact46. Sirdab raised a $10 million Series A to expand its logistics and warehousing model across the GCC. FlyAkeed secured $25.15 million to scale its enterprise travel product, and Nayla landed $18 million to expand financing for Saudi micro-businesses. Rwaj raised $1.2 million to scale live shopping, and Pinnacle made a growth investment into automotive commerce platform Carly. In the UAE, Fasset reached a $1 billion valuation after a $68 million Series C, Swvl secured $13 million led by Sawiris-backed Coefficient, Sav raised $3.5 million, Epic Markets closed a $10 million pre-seed, Tax Star raised $1.75 million, and Bundle emerged from stealth with a $5.5 million pre-seed round. Enterprise, construction and healthtech The smallest rounds in this tracker sit here, but their presence matters for a full accounting of the period: even in a month defined by mega-rounds, smaller checks kept moving into narrow, unglamorous verticals across the region. None of Fitting, Remedium, Enhance, Longevium or 3C Coding School individually shifts the month's totals, but together they show that early-stage checks into specific, well-defined problems continued throughout the period rather than pausing while attention focused on the larger fintech and logistics rounds. Smaller but still notable: Fitting raised $1.1 million to automate Saudi construction procurement, Remedium raised $1.5 million for sustainability accounting, Enhance raised $18.2 million in a mix of equity and venture debt for its fitness technology model, Longevium raised $7 million to build an AI-powered longevity lab in Dubai, and 3C Coding School raised $3 million to expand its coding education model in Saudi Arabia. On the acquisition side, Salla bought Paylink to bring payments deeper inside its e-commerce platform, Abwaab acquired Egypt's Eduact as regional edtech consolidates, and COFE Tech closed a pre-IPO round at a $178 million valuation. The investors behind the biggest checks Behind these rounds sits a recognizable group of investors repeating across multiple deals. Blue Pool Capital led Tabby's Series F. Jadwa Investment provided Rize's facility. Speedinvest, alongside MEVP, backed Abwab.ai in what was Speedinvest's first Saudi investment. Impact46 backed Syarah. Partech led Synapse Analytics' Series A, and Seedra led Gaia's pre-seed. Further afield, SBI led Fasset's Series C, Sawiris-backed Coefficient led Swvl's raise, and Arcapita backed STV's Emerging Tech & AI Fund — meaning its capital will reach future startups through that fund rather tha