Riyadh - Sharekat Mubasher: The startup ecosystem seems to have great momentum, buzzing with activity as significant venture investments and strategic acquisitions take place across various sectors, with startups coming from all over the globe.
first of all, a Saudi-based Jeel, an ed-tech startup for children, adolescents, parents, and educators, announced it had secured a seven-figure funding from RZM Investment and a group of prominent angel investors.
Jeel plans to strengthen its presence in the business-to-business and business-to-government sectors by offering its services to institutions and governments.
“Our goal is to broaden our scope and impact in digital content by partnering with institutions and governments, thereby driving growth in the sector,” Jeel's spokesperson said in a press release by his company.
The funding will also be used to add new languages to the Jeel app, aiming to attract more users from various Arab countries and expand into new markets within the region.
Moving to India, CoinDCX, India’s largest crypto exchange, has announced the acquisition of BitOasis, a UAE-based virtual assets trading platform. Commenting on this, Sumit Gupta, co-founder of the firm said: “Building on six years of success, CoinDCX aims to become the go-to trading platform for crypto worldwide,”.
This strategic move follows CoinDCX’s investment in BitOasis in August 2023 as the company aims to strengthen its presence in the Middle East and North Africa.
The acquisition will empower BitOasis to expand its presence across the MENA region, leveraging its newly acquired license in Bahrain and its platform reopening in Dubai.
BitOasis, founded in 2016 by Ola Doudin, Tarek Kaylani, and Daniel Robenek, is the first and largest crypto asset exchange in the MENA region. It is available in 15 countries across the region, allowing its users to buy, hold, and sell over 60 cryptocurrencies.
The company claims to have processed over $6 billion in trading volume and secured more than $40 million in funding from leading regional and global investors.
From Egypt, EdVentures, the investment arm of Nahdet Misr Group specializing in educational technology, has announced a $400,000 investment in El Kheta, an online platform for Egyptian students.
El Kheta offers reinforcement lessons, exams, and interactive videos from the new Egyptian curriculum, providing students with a customized and flexible educational experience.
Dalia Ibrahim, founder and chairwoman of Nahdet Misr for Entrepreneurship EdVentures commented: “We firmly believe in the potential of the El Kheta platform to revolutionize the online education sector in Egypt. We are committed to supporting talented entrepreneurs in the educational technology sector and helping them achieve their vision of creating a better and easier educational experience for everyone”.
The El Kheta platform offers students the ability to choose their preferred curricula and create study plans that suit their needs.
On the other hand, Germany-based holding company Mitgo Group has launched a $20 million fintech startup called Capy, targeting the MENA market as announced in a press release by the company.
This investment package will be distributed over the next three years. The initial tranche will be allocated towards developing the platform’s first version, with a particular focus on early and accelerated payment solutions.
In the first quarter of 2024, Mitgo Group announced the introduction of fintech services for publishers in the affiliate market, including cashback services, media buying, loyalty programs, and buy-now-pay-later services.
This new direction is being launched on the foundation of the recently acquired UAE-based embedded finance platform, Embedded.
Since the acquisition, Embedded has received additional funding and comprehensive support, and it has been relaunched as Capy within Mitgo’s global holding company.
