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Welcome to another edition of 🔍 Startup Researcher - Middle East, your essential digest delivering the latest news and premium insights on startups and venture capital across the region 🌍

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📰 Important News

• Saudi Arabia launched Humain, a $940 billion AI venture to build Arabic AI models and infrastructure, aiming to lead the region’s AI future.

• du UAE launched GPU-as-a-Service, offering scalable NVIDIA GPU access with no hardware cost to boost AI development across industries.

• The UAE Cybersecurity Council and e& opened Al Ain Innovation Centre to drive research, talent, and startup growth in tech sectors.

• Meydan Free Zone in Dubai launched Fawri, a digital service offering 60-minute business licenses with full foreign ownership and no capital needed.

💸 Top Funding Rounds

• WakeCap raised $28 million to expand its wearable tech for real-time construction safety and productivity in Saudi Arabia and globally.

• Galaxy Racer got $20 million from ERG CEO Shokhrat Ibrahimov despite ongoing financial and legal challenges.

• AqlanX secured $10 million from Lakeba via DoxAI to scale Arabic-first enterprise AI under the UAE’s NextGen FDI program.

• Kilow raised $2.5 million in seed funding led by Sanabil to scale its AI-powered weight management platform with smart health integration.

• Flat6Labs invested in T-Gate to support its F&B platform that links stores with service providers and POS systems for faster growth.

💰️ Notable Exits

• Smooth Professional Services acquired RP Recruitment Partners to boost its tech and digital talent offerings across the UAE and region through a unified, people-first approach.

🏦 About Investors

• STV launched an AI Fund with Google to back AI-native MENA startups in app-layer AI, local models, and infrastructure.

• Wyld VC launched MENA’s first $50 million AI fund, led by Tala Al-Jabri, to support AI talent and transformative startups in the region.

• Amwal Capital launched a $150 million Shariah-compliant fund to finance tech-led SMEs in the GCC via asset-backed private credit.

• Prosperity7 joined TensorWave’s $100 million Series A to scale AMD liquid-cooled AI GPU infrastructure globally.

🚀 Startup of the Week

Introducing our Startup of the Week 🏆

WakeCap

WakeCap is a Saudi Arabia-based construction technology company founded in 2017 by Hassan Albalawi and Ishita Sood, offering IoT-enabled wearables and a real-time project intelligence platform that improves safety, productivity, and efficiency on complex jobsites. The company has tracked over 150 million labor hours and operates across major projects in Saudi Arabia and globally, using rugged sensor-embedded hard hats, a proprietary wireless network, and cloud-based analytics. WakeCap recently raised $28 million in a Series A round led by UP.Partners, with plans to expand its presence in Saudi Arabia and international markets, enhance its platform, and deepen integrations with ecosystem partners like Oracle and OpenSpace.

💼 Investor of the Week

Introducing our Investor of the Week 🏆

STV

Saudi Technology Ventures, founded in 2018 and headquartered in Riyadh, is the largest technology-focused venture capital firm in the MENA region, managing over $800 million in capital and backed initially by Saudi Telecom Company (STC). Known for investing in and scaling high-growth tech startups across the region, STV has now launched a $100 million AI Fund with backing from Google, aimed at enabling a new wave of AI-native ventures in MENA. The fund will focus on application-layer AI, localized models, and infrastructure, addressing the region’s underinvestment in AI and combining STV’s regional investment expertise with Google’s global AI capabilities to help startups scale beyond local markets.

🤑 Opportunity Radar

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