Fintech

Kalshi raises $1 billion as prediction markets go institutional

Kalshi raised $1 billion at a $22 billion valuation doubling its worth in just five months. Institutional trading on the platform surged 800% as prediction markets move beyond retail into serious financial infrastructure.

Solvytix Venture Studio enters Egypt as a co-founding tech partner

Solvytix has launched a venture studio in Egypt to co-found and build technology startups from the ground up. The studio embeds as an operating partner rather than a service provider taking shared responsibility for execution from day one.

Khwarizmi raises $70 million as Saudi VC market holds its ground

Khwarizmi Ventures has completed a $70 million first close for its second fund targeting GCC seed and Series A startups. The Riyadh-based firm has already started deploying capital despite broader market caution across the region.

Mubadala leads $15 million Series A in UAE SME lender CredibleX

Mubadala Investment Company has led CredibleX's Series A as part of a $15 million equity raise. The UAE embedded finance lender has now raised over $170 million across equity and debt in under three years.

Saudi fintech RiFD teams up with Kingsbury to scale securitisation

RiFD and Kingsbury have partnered to scale securitisation in Saudi Arabia combining local asset infrastructure with global deal structuring expertise. The partnership targets a capital markets gap that has long limited institutional access to Saudi assets.

MENA startup funding hits $150 million in April but debt tells the real story

MENA startup funding climbed to $150 million across 27 deals in April 2026, a 211% jump from March's near-historic low. But half of that capital moved through debt financing, revealing a market that has found its floor without fully regaining its footing.

The case for and against crowdfunding as a path to lasting business

Crowdfunding has evolved well beyond Kickstarter campaigns and creative projects. With equity models growing fast and the global market approaching $21 billion, the real question is whether the companies it produces are built to last or built to launch.

How Airwallex went from acquisition target to Stripe rival

Few rivalries in fintech carry the personal weight of the one now developing between Stripe and Airwallex. Back in 2019, Stripe offered to buy the Melbourne-based startup for $1.2 billion. Airwallex's CEO said yes, then changed his mind.

Airwallex launches POS to take on Stripe and Square globally

Airwallex, the Australian fintech that spent a decade building global payments infrastructure, is moving into in-person commerce. The company is launching a point-of-sale product it says rivals like Stripe and Square cannot yet match across borders.

Cairo fintech INVIA secures $1.2M to unify SME financial tools

Cairo-based fintech startup INVIA has raised USD 1.2 million from angel investors and strategic backers, adding another data point to an already active year for Egyptian fintech.

How to actually define an MVP before you write a single line of code

Most founders misread MVP as an excuse to ship something rough. It's not. It's a discipline of focus, cutting everything that isn't essential and doing the core thing well. This piece breaks down how to define your MVP properly, how long it should realistically take to build, and why the feature graveyard exists in the first place.

What the $941 million Q1 2026 number tells us about MENA

MENA startup funding fell to 941 million dollars in the first quarter of 2026, marking a 37 percent drop year on year and a 21.5 percent decline from the previous quarter, and the numbers behind that headline tell a story that goes well beyond a single difficult quarter. Geopolitical disruption, a near standstill in March deal activity, and a persistent gender funding gap are the details that the aggregate figure alone does not show.

Egyptian fintech Lucky secures $23M Series B as it expands consumer credit into Tunisia and Morocco

From dilution to repayment understanding the real trade offs between Equity and Revenue based financing for SaaS

AWS Middle East outage causes Banking and Fintech platforms to go offline

Saudi fintech Madfu bags $25.5M to accelerate BNPL growth

Saudi BNPL startup Madfu has raised $25.5 million to expand its fintech footprint across the Kingdom, accelerating growth in digital payments and consumer finance under Vision 2030.

Saudi payments startup CASHIN closes $16M series A

Saudi fintech CASHIN has raised $16 million in a Series A round led by Impact46, as it scales its digital cash management and payment infrastructure across Saudi Arabia.

SiFi raises $20M series A to scale Saudi spend management platform

Saudi fintech Simplified Financial Solutions (SiFi) secures $20 million in Series A funding led by Ra’ed Ventures to scale its AI powered spend management platform, serving over 3,500 organizations across the Kingdom.

Infinity Value Capital leads $2M round for UAE’s Omnispay SME finance platform

UAE based fintech Omnispay secures $2 million in pre series A funding led by Infinity Value Capital Group to scale its AI driven SME finance platform, expand embedded lending, and accelerate GCC expansion.