Zest Your Equity | 25-June-2025

Private equity funds 101, why seed investors are selling earlier, and more.

Author

Ghalia from Zest
June 25, 2025

This week’s agenda 📜

  • Our latest resource ✍️

  • Who’s raising? 💰

  • M&A activity 💼

  • What we’re reading 📖

Let’s dive in 👇

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Private market investment opportunities have grown substantially over the years, luring prospective investors with potentially lucrative returns. But while private markets have piqued the curiosity of investors, it still remains an ambiguous asset class. 

If you’ve thought about investing in the private markets, you’ve likely come across the concept of funds - vehicles that offer many benefits to investors, like access, diversification, and professional management. 

Whether you’re considering your first fund commitment or looking to dial in your private market knowledge, this post will walk you through the fundamentals of how funds operate and what you can do to get involved.

 Who’s raising? 💰

  • 🇦🇪 UAE-based fintech Octa has raised $20 million in a credit facility from Sukna Fund for Direct Financing (SFDF).

  • 🇦🇪 UAE-based loyalty and rewards company Related has secured an $8 million investment from Equivator, a Saudi alternative investment firm.

  • 🇪🇬 Egyptian fintech Octane has raised $5.2 million in a funding round led by Shorooq Partners, Algebra Ventures, and SC Holding.

  • 🇦🇪 UAE-based infrastructure provider SaturnX has raised $3 million in seed funding, led by White Star Capital with participation from institutional investors.

  • 🇫🇷 French-Lebanese fintech XFOLIO has raised $2 million in Seed funding from Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP).

  • 🇦🇪 UAE-based proptech Prop-AI has raised $1.5 million in a pre-seed funding round, led by Plus VC, with participation from Joa Capital, Select Ventures, Oraseya Capital, Plug & Play, and angel investors from Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

M&A activity 💼

  • 🇦🇪 Stryde, a DFSA-regulated digital investment platform, has announced the acquisition of Qora71, the region’s fastest-growing angel investment network. Source.

  • 🇺🇸 Lottery.com has signed a $2.5 million agreement to acquire a 90% stake in Nook Holdings, a sports and wellness incubator based in Dubai, founded by Ravi Bhusari. Source.

  • 🇪🇬 iSchool, a leading K-12 artificial intelligence and coding education platform in the MENA region, has announced its acquisition of SEEDS, the EdTech division of Egyptian-Saudi software firm Algoriza. Source.

What we’re reading 📖

Private equity sits on $1 trillion amid uncertainties, M&A stalls, PwC says

Private equity firms are holding about $1 trillion in unsold assets, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said on Wednesday — capital that, in a typical market environment, would have been returned to investors.

Investor Appetite for Private Equity Has Waned, Survey Shows

Strategies are shifting because of new geopolitical risks, a report from Coller Capital says.

The new math: Why seed investors are selling their winners earlier

After two decades in venture capital, Hudson has been watching the math of seed investing change, maybe permanently. LPs who've previously been patient with seven-to-eight-year hold periods are suddenly asking questions about interim liquidity.

The Risks and Rewards of ChatGPT Becoming a VC Tool

Despite the fact that it’s relatively new, ChatGPT is already completely changing the way nearly every sector does business — not even finance is exempt.  Statistics show that generative AI...

Questioning PE's illiquidity premium

The NYC Employees' Retirement System's PE strategy has lagged the public market by 300 basis points over the past 10 years.

Buyout firms hope for improved IPO window in H2

Q2 IPO volume and value slumped as PE firms pulled back, but optimism remains for AI, robotics, and tech-driven listings ahead.

StepStone Group plays down the need to chase discounts on startup and venture secondaries

Secondaries purchased at a discount of 15% or more underperformed, according to a StepStone study.

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