Zest Your Equity | 29-May-2024

This week’s agenda 📜

• Our blog ✍️

• Startup fundraising 💰

• M&A activity 🤝

• What we’re reading 📖

Let’s dive in 👇

Our Blog ✍️

Have you ever wondered what makes a private market investor say “yes” to a company?

It’s widely known that investors have different expectations for a Series A startup than they do for a growth-stage, or late-stage company. But what are these criteria that investors look for?

In our latest blog, we dissect what types of firms invest at the different stages of a private company’s journey, what criteria investors look for, and how the broader market can impact startup fundraising.

You can read our latest blog here!

Startup Fundraising 💰

• 🇦🇪 UAE-based proptech Keyper has raised $34 million in a mix of $4M in equity and $30 million in Shariah-compliant Sukuk financing in a pre-Series A round, led by BECO Capital and Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP), with participation from existing investors Vivium Holding, Jabbar Group, Signature Developers, and new investors Annex Investments, Pin Investment, and Al Qahtani Investment, among other angels. 

• 🇪🇬 Egypt-based logistics startup OneOrder has raised $16 million in a Series A round in a mix of equity and debt, led by Delivery Hero Ventures, with participation from Norrsken22 and existing investors, Nclude and A15.

• 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia-based SaaS provider Merit has raised $12 million in its pre-Series B funding round, led by Alistithmar Capital i-Cap and followed by existing Series A investors Tech Invest Com and Hambro Perks Oryx Fund.

• 🇯🇴 Jordan-based fintech liwwa has secured a $5 million loan from the United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC). 

• 🇦🇪 UAE-based electronics marketplace Revent has raised $900,000 in a pre-Seed round, provided by Techstars and a group of angel investors.

• 🇦🇪 UAE-based real estate portal, propertyfinder.ae, has raised an undisclosed sum in a round led by BECO Capital, with participation from Evren Ucok, Patrick Grove Shaun Di Gregorio, Mustafa Abdel-Wadood, and others.

• 🇦🇪 UAE-based property technology firm, Huspy, has raised an undisclosed sum in a round led by Balderton Capital, along with existing investor Fifth Wall and others.

M&A Activity 🤝

• Egypt-based fintech e-finance for Digital and Financial Investments has acquired a 25% stake in Al Ahly Momken and a 13% stake in EasyCash for Digital Payments, both based in Egypt, for an undisclosed deal value. Source.

• Egypt’s investment bank, EFG Hermes, a subsidiary of EFG Holding, has acquired a minority stake in the Danish digital wealth manager “Kenzi Wealth” for an unknown value. Source.

Want to learn more? Schedule a time with our team below!