Zero to One | MENA

February funding roundup ?? Catch up on all the startup announcements you missed ??

?? Fintech companies are competing with consumer finance companies Tamara Secures Saudi Central Bank – SAMA's license for Consumer Finance and BNPL activity - Consumer finance license will allow Tamara to offer 5,000+ SAR financing for individuals (Tamara was providing up to 5,000 SAR with a BNPL license) - The license will allow the company to expand financing solutions and serve a larger base of customers - This comes after SAMA granted Tamara the initial approval for consumer finance activity in September 2024 - The number of licensed and permitted consumer finance and BNPL companies in Saudi Arabia reaches 65.

?? Fintech companies are competing with consumer finance companies Tamara Secures Saudi Central Bank – SAMA's license for Consumer Finance and BNPL activity - Consumer finance license will allow Tamara to offer 5,000+ SAR financing for individuals (Tamara was providing up to 5,000 SAR with a BNPL license) - The license will allow the company to expand financing solutions and serve a larger base of customers - This comes after SAMA granted Tamara the initial approval for consumer finance activity in September 2024 - The number of licensed and permitted consumer finance and BNPL companies in Saudi Arabia reaches 65.

Is it really THAT important to be a full-time founder? ? Here's Ibrahim Alsegayyir's perspective: - Ibrahim had a dessert business before moving on to having his own startup CloudShelf | ????? ???? - He claims that moving from part-time to full-time has helped their sales hit record highs—even during COVID—which ended up saving his business!

Saudi-to-London Spotlight: Rayan Lubbad ???? We caught up with Rayan while covering the Tech Founders program from CODE (a program by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology of Saudi Arabia). Here're the highlights: - Rayan mentioned that the program's 6-week international incubation was its key advantage over competitors - As the founder of the legal platform Adel | ????, expanding globally is Rayan's long-term vision

Most impactful MENA startup acquisitions in Feb 2025 ??

?? Top 5 Opportunities in Islamic Fintech Sectors across the GCC and MENA region: 1 - Alternative Finance 2 - Payments 3 - Wealth Management 4 - Raising Funds \ Digital Assets 5 - Deposits & Lending \ Enabling Technologies *Source: GIFT report

Shopify's Best acquisitions? Their acqui-hirings! Here are a few of Shopify's prominent leaders and their acquired ex-companies ??

Islamic FinTech Market on the Rise ?? Saudi Arabia’s Islamic FinTech Market Expected to Reach $109.5 Billion in 2028, Growing at a CAGR of 10.8% Source: DinarStandard's GIFT 2025 Report in collaboration with Elipses

An expansion story: Paydock ?? Paydock is a fintech payment orchestration platform that just expanded from the UK to Saudi Arabia ???? - It provides financial institutions and merchants with connectivity to fintech and payment systems without disrupting existing infrastructure - Secured $31.5 million in 2023 in a Series A round from Silverstripe Investment Management Limited ?? - Founded in 2015 by Rob Lincolne and Simon Lenton in Australia, and later relocated to the UK, then expanded to the US and Saudi Arabia - The company's expansion to Saudi Arabia was managed by Blossom Accelerator