MENA region’s 50 most-funded startups attracted $3.2 billion since their inception

Tamara co-founders Turki Bin Zarah, Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, and Abdulmohsen Albabtain. The startup has seen a steady pace of growth. (Supplied)
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Updated 18 December 2022
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MENA region’s 50 most-funded startups attracted $3.2 billion since their inception

CAIRO:  The Middle East and North Africa’s 50 most-funded startups attracted a total of $3.2 billion in fundraising since their inception, with 18 companies from the UAE, 12 from Saudi Arabia and 11 from Egypt, according to Forbes.

UAE-based startups made most of the list, raising $964 million in total funding, followed by the Kingdom with $946.7 million and Egypt with $508.5 million.

Saudi-based startups made five of the top 10 most-funded startups, with financial technology firm Tabby in second, payment app Tamara in third, digital freight network TruKKer in fourth, e-commerce company Sary in seventh and grocery platform Nana in ninth.

Startups that qualified for the list had to be no more than seven years old, excluding companies like Saudi Arabia’s fintech Foodics, which raised a total of $198 million, and the UAE’s cloud kitchen Kitopi, which raised $804 million in total funding.

Forbes’s list indicated that fintech companies were the most funded, with 21 startups attracting $1.3 billion in total funding, followed by e-commerce, with 10 startups raising $576.7 million and four mobility startups raising $299.6 million.

Letswork has it all worked out

The UAE-based platform for shared spaces Letswork raised $2.1 million in a seed funding round to expand its operations to Saudi Arabia.

Established in 2019 by Omar Almheiri and Hamza Khan, the company provides a marketplace for users to directly rent out co-working spaces, including meeting rooms, private offices and creative studios.

It supports companies that operate in a hybrid or remote work model with its flagship offering, the Letswork Pass, a subscription service that gives access to a distributed network of workspaces.

As part of its expansion plans for the Kingdom, the company has received a strategic investment from one of the largest co-working space operators in the country, The Space, in addition to an investment from Saudi activist and media presenter Ahmed Al Shugairi.

“Saudi Arabia is the largest market in the Middle East, and Riyadh is one of the first markets where Dubai-based companies expand into; hence many of our corporate clients were requesting to use Letswork there,” Khan, CEO of Letswork, said in a statement.

The company currently operates in Dubai and Riyadh and has a presence in Portugal, Spain and Bahrain.

The funding round saw participation from 500 Global, DTEC Ventures and other angel investors.

Art of the matter

The UAE-based venture capital firm Morningstar Ventures has invested over $5 million in its first interactive and immersive digital art gallery called 37xDubai.

Located in Dubai’s Burj Daman Tower, the gallery will be at the heart of Dubai’s business and lifestyle center and will open its doors in the first quarter of next year.

In the UAE, 23 percent of the population owns at least one non-fungible token, making it one of the region’s best markets for digital art.

The art gallery aims to bridge the gap between art and technology by introducing a new concept of Web3-enabled education, digital and traditional artistry, entertainment and communication.

“The design and architecture of our gallery are highly sophisticated, filled with state-of-the-art equipment, interior, sound, and lighting infrastructure. We hand-picked and meticulously selected every element of the space to ensure that the 37xDubai gallery and its exhibitions could be presented in an unforgettable fashion to every one of our visitors,” Clemence Cazeau, CEO 37xDubai, said in a statement.

FASTFACTS

• UAE-based startups made most of the list, raising $964 million in total funding, followed by the Kingdom with $946.7 million and Egypt with $508.5 million.

• Saudi-based startups made five of the top 10 most-funded startups, with financial technology firm Tabby in second, payment app Tamara in third, digital freight network TruKKer in fourth, e-commerce company Sary in seventh and grocery platform Nana in ninth.

Qatar invests in cybersecurity

Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority led a $196.5 million series G funding round in Boston-based cybersecurity startup Snyk Ltd.

Founded in 2015, the company provides a solution to find and fix vulnerabilities and license violations in open-source dependencies and container images.

QIA manages assets valued at around $450 billion, and its latest investment in Synk has valued the startup at $7 billion, a decrease from its previous round that put it at $8.5 billion. The company will use its investment to drive product innovation and expand its team via strategic acquisitions to maintain its position as a leading developer security platform.

“We’re confident that Snyk’s proven approach positions the company for a successful future and is aligned with QIA’s track record of supporting innovative companies shaping the future of the global economy,” Mansoor Ebrahim Al-Mahmoud, CEO of QIA, said in a statement.

The funding round saw new investors like Evolution Equity Partners, G Squared, Irving Investors, Sands Capital and Tiger Global.

Making the right Moove

Nigeria-based mobility fintech startup Moove is raising $30 million through its first sukuk issuance to expand its operations to the UAE.

Founded in 2020, the company offers vehicle financing to mobility entrepreneurs worldwide.

The company plans to fuel its expansion into the MENA region by building a fleet of electric vehicles for ride-hailing.

“Our first sukuk issuance showcases our growth and sustainability as a global company. Equally important is that this furthers our mission to build the biggest EV ride-hailing fleet in the region, to drive forward mobility electrification and enable cities to reach their net-zero targets,” Ladi Delano, co-founder and co-CEO of Moove, said in a statement.

The company will use its fund to scale to 2,000 electric vehicles in the UAE over the next 12 months to create sustainable economic opportunities.

As part of its expansion to the UAE, it will also roll out its electric vehicle charging app Moove Charge specifically for ride-hailing drivers.


Iran sentences man to death for posts during 2022 protests

Updated 07 May 2024
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Iran sentences man to death for posts during 2022 protests

  • Mahmoud Mehrabi was convicted of inciting killings, insulting religious sanctities

TEHRAN: An Iranian court has sentenced a man to death over content he posted online during 2022 protests over the death in custody of an Iranian-Kurdish woman, the judiciary said Tuesday.
Iran was gripped by months-long protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, after she was arrested for an alleged breach of the strict dress code for women.
The judiciary’s Mizan Online website said Mahmoud Mehrabi was found guilty of posting content that included guidance on how “to use homemade weapons and called for the destruction of public property.”
He was convicted of “inciting people to commit killings and insulting religious sanctities,” it added.
Lawyer Babak Farsani said Mehrabi was found guilty of the capital offense of “corruption on earth.” He can appeal against the sentence before the Supreme Court.
The months-long protests sparked by Amini’s death saw hundreds of people killed in street clashes, including dozens of security personnel.
Thousands were arrested as authorities moved to quell what they branded foreign-instigated “riots.”
Last month, an Iranian court sentenced popular rapper Toomaj Salehi to death for supporting the demonstrations.
Nine men have been executed in protest-related cases involving killings and other violence against security forces.
Amnesty International says Iran executed 853 people in 2023, the highest total since 2015.


Pulitzer Prizes in journalism awarded to The New York Times, The Washington Post, AP and others

Updated 07 May 2024
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Pulitzer Prizes in journalism awarded to The New York Times, The Washington Post, AP and others

  • The Pulitzers honored the best in journalism from 2023 in 15 categories, as well as eight arts categories focused on books, music and theater

NEW YORK: The New York Times and The Washington Post were awarded three Pulitzer Prizes apiece on Monday for work in 2023 that dealt with everything from the war in Gaza to gun violence, and The Associated Press won in the feature photography category for coverage of global migration to the US.
Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and its aftermath produced work that resulted in two Pulitzers and a special citation. The Times won for text coverage that the Pulitzer board described as “wide-ranging and revelatory,” while the Reuters news service won for its photography. The citation went to journalists and other writers covering the war in Gaza.

In a final embrace Inas Abu Maamar, 36, cradles the shroud-wrapped body of her five-year-old niece, Saly, who died in Israeli strikes on Khan Younis, at the Nasser Hospital morgue before her funeral in southern Gaza, October 17, 2023. (REUTERS)

The prestigious public service award went to ProPublica for reporting that “pierced the thick wall of secrecy” around the US Supreme Court to show how billionaires gave expensive gifts to justices and paid for luxury travel. Reporters Joshua Kaplan, Justin Elliott, Brett Murphy, Alex Mierjeski and Kirsten Berg were honored for their work.
The Pulitzers honored the best in journalism from 2023 in 15 categories, as well as eight arts categories focused on books, music and theater. The public service winner receives a gold medal. All other winners receive $15,000.

Migrants cross the Rio Bravo on an inflatable mattress into the United States from Matamoros, Mexico, on May 9, 2023. (AP)

The 15 photos in AP’s winning entry were taken across Latin America and along the US-Mexico border in Texas and California in a year when immigration was one of the world’s biggest stories. They were shot by AP staffers Greg Bull, Eric Gay, Fernando Llano, Marco Ugarte and Eduardo Verdugo, and longtime AP freelancers Christian Chavez, Felix Marquez and Ivan Valencia.
“These raw and emotional images came about through day-to-day coverage of a historic moment in multiple countries documenting migrants at every step of their treacherous journeys,” said Julie Pace, the AP’s senior vice president and executive editor.
The United States has seen more than 10 million border arrivals in the last five years, with migrants arriving from a wide range of new locations like Venezuela, Cuba, Ecuador, Haiti and Africa, in contrast with earlier eras.

Day breaks as a survivor of an Israeli airstrike on southern Gaza, who was displaced from Gaza City and sought refuge with family in the city of Khan Younis, lays his head on the corpse of a female relative named Tamam, which lies alongside family members who were killed in the strike, in Nasser hospital, Khan Younis, Gaza, October 24, 2023. (REUTERS)

The AP has won 59 Pulitzer Prizes, including 36 for photography. The news cooperative was named a finalist for the national reporting Pulitzer on Monday for its coverage of hundreds of thousands of children who disappeared from public schools during the pandemic.
In citing the Times for its work in Israel and Gaza, the Pulitzer board mentioned its coverage of the country’s intelligence failures, along with the attack and Israel’s military response.
The award comes even as The Times has faced some controversy about its coverage; last month a group of journalism professors called on the publication to address questions about an investigation into gender-based violence during the Hamas attack on Israel.
The Times’ Hannah Dreier won a Pulitzer in investigative reporting for her stories on migrant child labor across the United States. Contributing writer Katie Engelhart won the newspaper’s third Pulitzer, in feature writing, for her portrait of a family struggling with a matriarch’s dementia.
“Every one of the winners and finalists showcases a drive for original, revelatory reporting that underpins so much of what we produce, from the biggest storylines in the news to feature writing as well as classic investigations,” said Joe Kahn, the Times’ executive editor.
The Washington Post staff won in national reporting for its “sobering examination” of the AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, which came with some gut-wrenching photos. “We were eager to find a way to cover it differently and change the conversation about mass shootings,” Peter Walstein, the Post’s senior national enterprise editor, said in the newspaper.
The Post’s David E. Hoffman won in editorial writing for a “compelling and well-researched” series on how authoritarian regimes repress dissent in the digital age. Its third award went to contributor Vladimir Kara-Murza, for commentaries written from a Russian prison cell.
The New Yorker magazine won two Pulitzers. Sarah Stillman won in explanatory reporting for her report on the legal system’s reliance on felony murder charges. Contributor Medar de la Cruz won in illustrated reporting and commentary for his story humanizing inmates in the Rikers Island jail in New York City.
The staff of Lookout Santa Cruz in California won in the breaking news category for what the prize board called “nimble community-minded coverage” of flooding and mudslides. On its website Monday, Lookout Santa Cruz said that it made its coverage free at a time of crisis in the community, and also used text messages to reach people without power.
“In short, we did our jobs,” the staff said in an unsigned article, “and we heard so many thanks for it. The Pulitzer is icing on that cake.”
The Pulitzers gave a second award in national reporting to the Reuters staff for an “eye-opening” series that probed Elon Musk’s automobile and aerospace businesses.
In local reporting, Sarah Conway of City Bureau and Trina Reynolds-Tyler of the Invisible Institute won for an investigative series on missing Black girls and women in Chicago, which showed how racism and the police contributed to the problem.
The Pulitzer in criticism went to Justin Chang of The Los Angeles Times for evocative and genre-spanning coverage of movies. The Pulitzer board’s second special citation went to the late hip-hop critic Greg Tate.
The awards are administered by Columbia University in New York, which itself has been in the news for student demonstrations against the war in Gaza. The Pulitzer board met away from Columbia this past weekend to deliberate on its winners.
The Pulitzers announced that five of the 45 finalists this year used artificial intelligence in research and reporting of their submissions. It was the first time the board required applicants for the award to disclose use of AI.
The prizes were established in the will of newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer and first awarded in 1917.
 

 


Advocacy group ‘alarmed’ as journalists shot at in West Bank

Updated 06 May 2024
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Advocacy group ‘alarmed’ as journalists shot at in West Bank

  • Al-Araby TV workers were not injured but their equipment was destroyed
  • Ameed Shehade, Rabih Al-Monayar were wearing ‘Press’ vests at time of attack

LONDON: American advocacy group the Committee to Protect Journalists says it is “extremely concerned” after hearing reports that two Al-Araby TV journalists were shot at by Israeli forces in the West Bank on Saturday.

Reporter Ameed Shehade and camera operator Rabih Al-Monayar came under fire while they were covering an Israeli raid on the village of Deir al-Ghusun in Tulkarm.

Neither of the men was injured in the attack but their equipment was destroyed.

The CPJ urged Israel to launch an investigation into whether the journalists were deliberately targeted.

“CPJ is alarmed by the Israeli soldiers’ shooting at two Al-Araby TV journalists, which hit their camera, while they were reporting in the West Bank,” the group’s Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna said.

Although he was “relieved” that the journalists had not been injured, he said he questioned whether the targeting was intentional as it was the second case of reporters being attacked while doing their jobs.

Al-Araby TV aired footage of the two men, who were wearing blue vests labeled “Press,” taking cover near their car.

 

 

Shehade said the shots were fired from a vehicle about 20 meters (22 yards) away and that they were clearly visible to the soldier.

Another journalist who was reporting on the raids confirmed that Shehade and Al-Monayar could be easily identified as members of the press.

According to The Guardian, Israeli forces killed five Palestinians in the overnight raid. Hamas confirmed that four of the men killed were from its al-Qassam armed wing.

Al-Monayar and Shehade suffered a similar attack in July last year while reporting on an Israeli operation against militants in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank. They again escaped personal injury but their video equipment was damaged.


Russia charges journalist with ‘justifying terrorism’

Updated 06 May 2024
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Russia charges journalist with ‘justifying terrorism’

  • Nadezhda Kevorkova was arrested for two Telegram posts regarding an Islamist raid and Afghanistan, her son reports
  • The journalist specialized in coverage of the Middle East

MOSCOW: Russia has detained prominent journalist Nadezhda Kevorkova and charged her with “justifying terrorism” over posts on her Telegram account, her lawyer said Monday.
Kevorkova, 65, wrote for a number of outlets including Novaya Gazeta and Russia Today and specialized in coverage of the Middle East, including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“Nadezhda Kevorkova has been detained and will be taken to a temporary detention center today. The matter of pre-trial restrictions will be decided tomorrow,” lawyer Kaloy Akhilgov said.
The charges relate to two posts on her Telegram from 2018 and 2021, one a re-post from another journalist about the 2005 Islamist raid on Nalchik and the other about Afghanistan, he said.
The raid on Nalchik, a city in Russia’s North Caucasus, saw armed Islamist militants target government and security buildings in an attack that left dozens of people dead.
Her ex-husband Maxim Shevchenko, who presents a talk show on state television, rejected the charges against her.
“Nadezhda Kevorkova never justified terrorism and never justified the attack on Nalchik ... but as a journalist, she certainly wrote about torture during the investigation,” he said.
Russia has waged an unprecedented crackdown on freedom of the press since launching its full-scale offensive in Ukraine, silencing and detaining journalists at odds with the Kremlin.


Media watchdogs raise alarm over Al Jazeera ban, call for it to be lifted

Updated 06 May 2024
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Media watchdogs raise alarm over Al Jazeera ban, call for it to be lifted

  • Israel’s decision sets ‘dangerous precedent,’ Committee to Protect Journalists says
  • News channel vows to continue Gaza coverage, will pursue ‘every legal step’ to fight block

LONDON: Media watchdogs have condemned Israel’s decision to block Al Jazeera, raising concerns about the erosion of media freedom in the country, especially amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

The US-based Committee to Protect Journalists said the government’s decision set a dangerous precedent for other international media outlets operating in Israel.

“CPJ condemns the closure of Al Jazeera’s office in Israel and the blocking of the channel’s websites,” program director Carlos Martinez de la Serna said in New York.

Israel should allow Al Jazeera and all international media outlets to operate freely, particularly during wartime, he said.

Israel’s executive authority voted on Sunday to pass a law allowing the temporary shutdown of a foreign channel’s broadcasts if the content was deemed to be a threat to security during the ongoing war.

Soon after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the decision, reports emerged of raids on the offices of the Qatar-backed broadcaster.

The Foreign Press Association released a statement condemning the decision as a “dark day for the media” and accused Israel of joining “a dubious club of authoritarian governments” by banning the broadcasts.

The UN’s Human Rights office also urged the Israeli government to reverse the ban

“A free & independent media is essential to ensuring transparency & accountability. Now, even more so given tight restrictions on reporting from Gaza,” it said on X.

There has also been criticism of the decision from within the country, with the Association for Civil Rights in Israel filing a request to the Supreme Court to overturn the ban.

The news came amid a yearslong campaign waged against Al Jazeera by the Israeli government, which accuses it of anti-Israeli bias and “being a mouthpiece for Hamas.”

The broadcaster rejected the claims and said it would “pursue every legal step” to fight the decision.

Al Jazeera also vowed to continue its coverage from Gaza, as it remains one of the few networks with a strong presence on the ground, as foreign journalists are banned from entering the Strip without Israeli army supervision.

The network accused Israel of deliberately targeting its staff in an attempt to silence them.

“Israel’s suppression of free press to cover up its crimes by killing and arresting journalists has not deterred us from performing our duty,” it said in its response to Sunday’s ban.

Despite the ruling, the channel remains accessible through Facebook in Israel.