Dash Venture Labs: Our Weekly Picks (Issue No. 9)

1) Entrepreneurship/Startups

ADU inaugurates its Venture Lab to elevate the UAE’s sustainability-oriented entrepreneurial ecosystem

Abu Dhabi University (ADU) launched its Sustainable Development Venture Lab in collaboration with the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED). The Lab, open to students, researchers, external entrepreneurs, and innovators, seeks to grow sustainability-oriented entrepreneurial and innovation skills through tackling complex challenges in the industry, services, primary sector, and the government.

The Venture Lab will offer an innovative space designed to help spin-offs, startups, companies, and government agencies find more sustainable solutions to create or improve daily operations. The Lab will comprise five different zones, located on each of ADU’s campuses in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Al-Dhafra, and Dubai, to serve a specific area of entrepreneurship. Additionally, Incubation Zones will be provided to innovators with spaces equipped with business phones and internet access, in addition to dedicated areas where they can present their businesses and prototypes to potential investors.

Young Emirati entrepreneur Alia Al Ali creates platform for connecting youth with UAE start-ups

Young Emirati entrepreneur, Alia Al Ali, has launched Startlings, a platform where the youth can connect with UAE start-ups and acquire relevant entrepreneurial skills that would help them either to build their own start-ups or jumpstart their careers. The digital platform brings together established start-ups and students in high school, university and post-university.

The entire programme which runs for eight weeks, goes hand in hand with the National Agenda for Entrepreneurship, aimed at establishing the UAE as an entrepreneurial nation by 2031. The National Agenda includes 29 initiatives aimed at enhancing the business environment and entrepreneurial mindset in the UAE and an integrated package of incentives that will enable the country to increase the number of its start-ups to reach one million.

UAE partners with startup Deel to fast-track foreign workers visas

The UAE government’s Office of AI, Digital Economy, and Remote Work Applications is partnering with payroll and on boarding startup Deel to expedite the process of issuing work visas to foreign nationals. Under the partnership, Deel will be able to offer its customers, which include the likes of technology giants Coinbase and Shopify, access to different UAE visa options, and an expedited way of securing one. Visa categories offered under the partnership also include the country’s long-term visa options, Golden and Green visas. The company will also facilitate flights and accommodations and will provide health insurance and onboarding support.

Cairo's Flat6Labs and ADQ's DisruptAD select 10 new start-ups for Ignite programme

Egypt-based Flat6Labs and DisruptAD have selected 10 start-ups under their Ignite programme. Representing the third cohort of the programme, the companies will receive seed funding and mentorship from global experts. Of the 10 start-ups receiving investments in this new cycle of the programme, seven are home-grown UAE companies while the other three were founded in Poland, Bahrain and Turkey. This is in line with the programme’s objective of establishing Abu Dhabi as a global entrepreneurial hub and centre for innovation.

2) Technology

Bentley enters NFT marketplace with unique artwork

Luxury car brand Bentley announced its first venture in the NFT marketplace with its unique artwork. The British car brand is producing a one-time NFT drop on the carbon-neutral Polygon network, scheduled for September and limited to just 208 pieces. The genesis NFT will be a unique artwork created by Bentley Design and will offer unique access and exclusive rewards to holders. The Bentley collection will be minted on Polygon, an Ethereum scaling platform onboarding millions to Web3.

The company will explore other digital platforms, including NFCs (non-fungible chips), online gaming, Metaverse applications and the use of blockchain technology across the organisation. Proceeds from the Bentley NFT and future activations will further its philanthropic efforts. The car brand will accelerate support for students interested in engineering, design, and manufacturing, all areas where Bentley requires new talent annually.

Spire and Mastercard partner to enhance and simplify digital banking

UAE-based Spire, an Open Banking services provider, partnered with Mastercard, a technology leader in the global payments industry. The collaboration will help banks revolutionize consumer engagement and enhance user experiences in the region by integrating Spire ‘Ingage’ and Mastercard’s Merchant Identifier solution.

Spire ‘Ingage’ is an AI-driven financial wellbeing platform for retail banking customers, which provides smart budgeting, smart savings, smart lending, proactive bill management, and real-time financial reminders to help simplify consumer finances and financial decision making. Mastercard’s Merchant Identifier solution will be integrated to provide real-time merchant data into different categories, formatted to be relevant and recognizable to banks as well as their customers. This allows customers to have a simple and holistic view of their banking transactional activities.

Dubai Future Foundation and VC MENA hosts startups

Dubai Future Foundation (DFF) organised an event bringing together startups with venture capital firms to explore opportunities for collaboration and growth in the technology and digital economy sector. This is part of DFF’s onging efforts to enhance Dubai’s position as a regional and global hub for tech innovators and investors.

Geidea partners with Saudi delivery-as-a-service startup BARQ

Saudi-based FinTech company, Geidea, partnered with the Saudi-based delivery-as-a-service startup BARQ in a move that facilitates point of delivery, digital payments for BARQ customers through the Geidea-enabled BARQ App. The collaboration equips BARQ with a tailored suite of payment solutions powered by Geidea, enabling its delivery fleet to receive payments from customers upon delivery via the BARQ mobile application. Further, Geidea’s tailored payment solutions will enable BARQ’s merchants to accept a wider variety of digital payments via a safe, secure, single API integrated platform. The move allows fleet drivers to accept payments at the point of delivery.

EV Leader Lightyear selects Sharjah Technology and Innovation Park for First International expansion

Dutch-based Lightyear, which launched world’s first long-range production-ready solar electric vehicle, will open testing facilities and a sales office at the Sharjah Research, Technology and Innovation Park (SRTI Park), the first such facility outside the Netherlands. The two parties will collaborate on a range of activities, including setting up testing facilities and sales and service partnerships across the region. In addition, Lightyear and SRTI Park will boost university research exchange programs on solar-powered EVs, and work on policy initiatives to support governments in creating incentives for electric vehicles, including solar-extended EVs.

In SRTI Park’s role as a key technology incubator, the partnership will also enable fundraising for development and production of future Lightyear models and could pave the way for local manufacturing in Sharjah in the future, utilizing advanced research of leading Sharjah universities.

Saudi-based BNPL startup Tamara expands operations to UAE

Tamara, a Saudi-based ‘buy now pay later’ (BNPL) platform, is set to expand its operations into the UAE. Customers across the UAE will be able to split their payments interest-free at leading retailers including Namshi, SHEIN, Styli, Fitness Time, Faces and Swarovski. Tamara’s move to enter the UAE market follows new research by Checkout.com – the lead investor in the startup’s USD 110 million Series A funding round – which revealed that UAE consumers are among those most likely to use BNPL this year. The company will now operate in both Saudi Arabia and the UAE and will be available both online and in-store through Tamara’s customer app.

Tamara works with global retail leaders like Adidas, IKEA, L’Occitane, and Yves Saint Laurent, as well as top regional brands like Namshi, Abyat, Faces, Niceone, and Golden Scent, offering payment solutions to more than 3,500 merchants across the GCC.

Paysky expands its Yalla Super App in UAE in partnership with financial institution

UAE-based fintech company, Paysky, launched its Yalla Super App in the UAE to provide a number of financial services. The company’s solutions are available in more than 10 countries in the MNA through partnerships with a number of major banks. The company aims to expand the services it provides to individuals through the Yalla Super App, which is an integrated digital platform that combines a number of services in one application. It also provides financial services through the application or Yalla cards.

Moreover, the application provides non-financial services, such as e-commerce, purchase of train tickets, insurance policy payments, as well as loyalty programmes, in cooperation with partners such as Egypt Post.

Hollydesk for Fintech introduces buy now, pay later service for SMBs

Egypt-based fintech company, Hollydesk, is introducing a buy now, pay later service for SMBs that uses Hollydesk’s solutions. Companies using Hollydesk solutions can benefit from financing options for their invoices or goods and pay on instalments spanning 30 to 90 days. Furthermore, Hollydesk analyses the database by using AI as an alternative to the credit worthiness reports of banks, which determines the amount of funding each company can get and the payment period.

Egyptian healthtech startup Vezeeta cuts 10% of 500-person staff

Egypt-based Vezeeta, a healthtech startup operating in the Middle East and Africa, laid off about 10% of its staff. Vezeeta is the first major player in Africa and the Middle East to be affected. The layoffs were a result several factors including disasters in the market, due to the global market crisis caused by the war in Ukraine, etc.

3) Funding Activity

Pure Harvest Smart Farms secures USD 180.5 million from global investors to fund expansion

UAE-based Pure Harvest Smart Farms raised USD 180.5 million in their latest growth funding round. The financing was embraced by a consortium of key global investors, including Metric Capital Partners, UK, IMM Investment Corp, Korea, and Olayan Group, KSA, joined by several existing investors and management. The company will utilize the capital, together with various forms of debt financing, to invest in research and development, to expand its footprint across the GCC, and to open new markets in Asia.

This fundraiser, together with the sizable research and development incentives secured from the Abu Dhabi Investment Office in 2020, will allow Pure Harvest to accelerate its growth plans, deploying growing systems in new markets and increasing research and development investments. The company is also investigating a number of new growth initiatives, including product extensions and water-efficient CEA solutions for fodder production.

Saudi Venture Capital Company makes investments in venture debt fund

The Saudi Venture Capital Company (SVC) announced investment in the venture debt fund of Partners for Growth Company (PFG), which offers debt instruments for startups and small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). The fund will focus on offering venture debt tools to help startups, and small and medium size enterprises to achieve faster growth. Startups and SMEs in the technical, financial technology, healthcare and biological sciences fields will be the focus for venture debt fund.

Battery swapping startup Battery Smart raises USD 25 million funding led by Tiger Global

India-based EV battery swapping startup Battery Smart raised USD 25 million in a funding round led by Tiger Global, with participation from Blume Ventures and Orios Ventures. The company plans to use the fresh funds to expand to new territories, strengthen its technology, and build its team to continue scaling operations.

The battery-as-a-service or battery-swapping model helps bring down the cost of EV adoption significantly by taking away the ownership of the battery from the end user. The battery is the most expensive component of any EV, and can account for up to 60% of a vehicle's cost. The battery swapping model also solves range anxiety, which is the fear of driving an electric vehicle and running out of charge without being able to find a charging station within range.

B2B marketplace Solv raises USD 40 million in funding led by SBI Holdings

India-based Solv, a marketplace for small businesses, raised USD 40 million in a round of funding led by Japan-headquartered SBI Holdings, with participation from SC Ventures, which has been an incubator and early-stage investor of the B2B digital marketplace. This round takes Solv’s total funding to nearly USD 80 million.

Solv will use the funds to launch additional high-margin product categories and expand to more than 300 cities across the country, and to drive expansion of its buy-now-pay-later loans, particularly in the new-to-credit segment. The firm also plans to expand its anchor-led retailer finance to an additional 50,000 retailers and is building a global tech stack from India to help expand operations in several countries in Africa and Southeast Asia.

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