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The market is buzzing with new energy, investments in startups across markets; a stellar acquisition in gaming; corporates and startups get into strategic partnerships; amazing insights into the Saudi market; strategic growth in private equity.

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INVESTMENTS

AUC Angels, Egypt-based angel network, announces investment in two Egypt-based startups: pre-seed investment in Mogassam, dental 3D printer manufacturer, and seed investment in Furnwish, AR furniture startup. Amounts undisclosed.  

Wethaq Capital, Dubai-based Sukuk securities startup, raises investment from Vision Ventures. Announcement made via twitter, amount undisclosed.

iNurture Education Solutions, India-based ed-tech startup, raises $4M in funding from Kimera, Dubai-based family office. 

Jahez, Saudi-based food delivery startup, raises $36.5M in a Series A round led by Impact46 and joined by undisclosed corporate investors. This is the biggest investment deal in Saudi to-date, but also the second biggest round in MENA for 2020 so far.  

Insider, Turkey-HQ marketing tech platform, raises $32M in series C funding from Sequoia Capital, Riverwood Capital, Endeavor Catalyst and Wamda Capital. Insider has operations and clients in the GCC.

Peak Games, Turkey-based game developer, gets acquired by Zynga for $1.8B

 

SECTOR NEWS

 
Mr Usta, Dubai-HQ services marketplace, announces a strategic partnership with Majid Al Futtaim (MAF) to provide after-sales services to customers of furniture retailers in their portfolio. 

Tabby, Dubai-based buy-now-pay-later startup, announces strategic partnership with DHL Express to provide alternative for cash-on-delivery.

Eventtus launches Eventtus Virtual Platform to help people host online events.

DP World, Dubai-HQ global port operator, joins the TradeLens platform a blockchain-powered digital container logistics platform, co-developed by AP Moller, Maersk, and IBM. DP World is preceded by Saudi Customs and Agility who joined the platform in early 2019 and 2018.

 

RESEARCH & REPORTS

Almosafer, Saudi-based travel booking platform, ran a survey during May across Saudi to measure consumer sentiment towards travel in the upcoming months. 45% are somewhat confident and 28% fully confident to travel as soon as restrictions are lifted, with the majority opting for car travel or short-haul destinations as their primary means for the short-term, more inside. 

Zid, Saudi-based eCommerce enablement platform, releases a “Complete Guide to eCommerce Adoption” in Saudi with insights into the market size and stats covering April-May 2020: 
The report is in Arabic so we translated the key stats:
*Saudi eCommerce Market is estimated at 80B SAR ($21B), up 14% from last year
*64% of Saudi shop online at 2-3 times a year, with an average basket size higher than that of the average US & Chinese consumer
*60% of consumers shopping online are between the ages of 25-44
*87% of consumers prefer online payments to COD
*35B SAR ($9.3B) were spent online last year
*~13M consumers using eCommerce online in Saudi
*Online shoppers increased by 48% since the pandemic broke out
*The median annual spend on eCommerce for a Saudi consumer is 4000 SAR (~$1k)
*65% of eCommerce website browsing takes places on mobile
Post-pandemic:
*Consumer adoption in Dhahran (eastern province) grew by 260%
*Online sales of home appliances and books grew by 5x, while online sales of accessories & jewelry, and food and beverage grew by 3x, Personal Care and health grew by 2x
*Repeat purchases increase by 29% and order cancellations went down to 6%
*average basket value increase by 25%
*There were 335,000 orders fulfilled in Riyadh alone in April/May 2020, representing 55.7% of national sales

Union Media publishes “Brand Suitability and the Power of Context at a time of a Crisis.” A report that tracked consumer attitudes towards advertising during a crisis across EMEA including Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar during mid-April to May.

Digital14 publishes a “Smart Cities: The Power, The Risks, The Response” assessment of UAE’s cybersecurity readiness and prospects. Report link: https://bit.ly/2XUaN2Q

 

POLICY

UAE's Ras Al Khaimah Government launches integrated Stimulus Package for SMEs
 

FURTHER NEWS

Samsung announces plans to invest $84M in the Egyptian tech market over the next 5 years, starting $23M to launch a new computer screen production line by August 2020.

Investcorp, Bahrain-based alternative investment manager, closes $354M (€318M) fund to invest in European senior secured loans.

Natixis, French investment bank, launches corporate and investment banking office in Riyadh

New Frontier Capital Management Hong Kong (Japan) and Blue Apple Partners (Abu Dhabi) partner to establish: Blue Apple New Frontier Healthcare Fund, a $300M fund to invest in the medical and healthcare sector in MENA.

Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) injects $13.3B in the Saudi banking system to increase the liquidity and enable banks to provide credit facilities.

 




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