Zest Wire | 13-May-2026

GPs now cite tech innovation as their top internal challenge. Plus: How LPs are navigating retail capital, and much more.

May 13, 2026

This week’s agenda

🎥 Webinar with Latham & Watkins

💰 Capital activity across MENA private markets

🤝 M&A news

🧾 Data insights in private markets

📖 What we’re reading

🎤 What we’re listening to

Live Webinar with Latham & Watkins

Inside the Cap Table: A Playbook for Capital Raises and SPVs

We have partnered with Latham & Watkins to co-host a live webinar on cap tables, capital raises and SPVs.

The decisions you make around your cap table today shape every financing event that follows. Whether you are a founder preparing for an institutional raise, a syndicate lead structuring co-investments, or an emerging VC, this session will give you a practical playbook.

Register to join us here.

Capital activity across MENA

  • 🇦🇪 CredibleX raises $15 million Series A led by Mubadala Investment Company, with participation from existing investor Further Ventures, to scale its embedded SME lending platform across the UAE and grow its 70+ distribution partner network.

  • 🇦🇪 Udora raises $10 million in a private funding round to scale its gifting marketplace across MENA, expand its product catalogue, invest in AI-powered personalization, and prepare for a Q3 2026 Saudi Arabia launch.

  • 🇧🇭 Siin raises new funding, bringing total capital to $3 million, led by VentureSouq and Shift Group with participation from Plus VC, Oqal, and regional angel investors, to accelerate regional expansion and grow its live commerce seller ecosystem across the Gulf.

  • 🇸🇦 Hakeem Health raises $1.65 million led by Merak Capital, with participation from Sanabil 500, to scale adoption of its AI-powered bilingual clinical decision support platform across GCC hospitals, universities, and healthcare payers.

  • 🇸🇦 Metafare raises $1 million in its first funding round, backed by Harmonics Ventures and a group of family offices, to scale its VR and AI-powered virtual wellness platform across Saudi Arabia and into wider Gulf markets.

  • 🇸🇦 Madeed closes its pre-seed at $925,000 with participation from SEEDRA Ventures, Unity Investment Partners, and Seen Growth, alongside earlier backers Vision Ventures and Saudi angels, to scale its biomarker-led preventive healthcare platform across the Kingdom.

M&A news

  • 🇶🇦 Vodafone Qatar acquires Maktapp, a cloud-based SME operations platform with a payments and invoicing arm (Fatora), through its subsidiary Infinity Fintech Ventures. The deal extends Vodafone Qatar's push beyond telecom into fintech and SME business software, building on its earlier launch of the licensed e-wallet iPay. Maktapp was previously backed by Qatar Development Bank, Qatar FinTech Hub, and 500 Global. Source

Data insights in private markets

GPs now rank keeping abreast of technological innovation as their single biggest internal challenge, ahead of talent, operational efficiency, and compliance. As AI, automation, and digital reporting reshape what fund operations look like, the managers who modernize their infrastructure are positioning themselves to compete on a different axis than those still wrestling with legacy systems.

Read the summary results from Gen II’s 5th report here.

Startups looking to IPO in Saudi Arabia are plenty but early-stage readiness remains an obstacle | Enterprise AM

Saudi’s venture-backed IPOs stand apart from peers thanks to high valuations and capital intensity.

Global financial leaders reaffirm confidence in UAE and Dubai’s financial ecosystem | Economy Middle East

Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) reaffirmed on Monday the strength, resilience and long-term outlook of its ecosystem, as global clients across banking, insurance, wealth and innovation sectors expressed continued confidence in Dubai and the UAE.

Dealmakers, don’t be so quick to skip the AGM | Buyouts

Dealmakers are a part of their firms’ LP relationships. They should be cautious about cold-shouldering LPs at the AGM.

Ride or die: LPs grapple with the coming wave of retail money | Buyouts

Some LPs reject the idea of investing alongside retail vehicles outright. Others accept that it is a tsunami they will have to ride and are making progress in how they protect their privileged place.

GPs face up to PE’s valuations problem | PEI

As demand for distributions rises, PE managers may have to take a more pragmatic approach to pricing in the months ahead.

Investor concerns grow around conflicts, particularly in CVs: ILPA | PEI

To try and smooth out pain points in the LP/GP relationship, LPs focus on top priority terms involving key person provisions, how carried interest is distributed throughout the organization, and standard of care/fiduciary duty, ILPA found in a recent sentiment survey.

The next evolution of semi-liquid structures | PEI

The new generation of evergreen vehicles will be engineered around the asset, not just the type of investor.

GPs face growing pressure to modernize | PEI

Operational resilience is becoming a strategic priority for managers amid intensifying AI adoption.

Market dynamics

Middle Market Continues to Lose Ground as Large Deals Dominate Global M&A | Mergers and Acquisitions

Middle-market transactions made up 57% of worldwide deal activity in early 2022. By 2026, that share has been cut in half.

AI’s got a brand problem. The CEOs aren’t helping | Fast Company Middle East

Most companies want to sell you on their product. AI companies do too. They just have a funny way of doing it.

AI Is Rewriting What Investors Should Look For In Early Startup Teams | Crunchbase

Technical expertise still matters, but when everyone can build, thanks to AI, it no longer differentiates, writes guest author Aaron Tainter, director of accelerator programs at Innovation Works. And that forces a harder question for investors: If the product isn’t the moat, what is?

The No. 1 Reason M&A Deals Fail Before They Even Start | Crunchbase

Founder expectations often misalign with how M&A actually works, writes guest author and strategic adviser Itay Sagie, who highlights common issues M&A deals don't close.

What we’re listening to

Reading the signals in secondaries sentiment | Private Equity Spotlight

How is market sentiment shaping secondaries fundraising and deal activity? This episode discusses the findings from PEI Group title Secondaries Investor’s Global Market Survey 2026 - a survey on LPs, GPs, secondaries buyers and the intermediary community about market trends, transaction processes, deployment issues, regulation and more.

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