INVESTMENTS

 ACQUISITIONS

Sowt Media, Jordan-HQ podcast network, acquired Finyal Media, UAE-based podcast network, for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition was co-financed with the Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF), a US-HQ not-for-profit investment fund for independent news and information businesses in challenging environments. Finyal Media was founded in 2019 and has a portfolio of award-winning fiction podcasts like Juha, Al Silah, and 1001 Nights.

Golden Road, Saudi-based B2B marketplace for hospitality, acquired F-code, Saudi-based development agency, for an undisclosed amount. Golden Road was founded in 2019 and says it serves over 4k F&B outlets in the kingdom. Information about F-code is not available online. (AR)

Lyve Global, UAE-based B2B logistics company, acquired a majority stake in Shopini World, UAE-HQ freight company, for an undisclosed value. Lyve says it plans to invest $150M in high-quality acquisitions within the next two years, and had acquired a majority stake in Jeebly, UAE-based last-mile delivery startup, in July. Shopini was founded in 2017 and provides cross-border logistics services for eCommerce platforms through hubs in ​​the USA, UAE, China, Turkey, and the UK.

ECC group, Egypt-based cosmetics company, acquired a majority stake in Source Beauty, Egypt-based beauty marketplace, value undisclosed. The startup was founded in 2018 and says it has over 85 local and international beauty brands on its platform and 60,000 users.

 INVESTMENTS IN INT'L STARTUPS

Pretzel Therapeutics, US-HQ biotech startup, raised $72.5M in series A funding from Mubadala and other global investors. The startup was founded in 2020 and uses mitochondrial biology to advance novel treatments for diseases.

Nexford University, US-HQ online university, raised $8M in series A funding from Global Ventures (UAE) and other global investors. The startup was launched in 2019 and focuses on providing access to students in emerging economies like Africa and the Middle East.

Kippa, Nigeria-based Saas for SMEs platform, raised $8.4M in seed funding from VentureSouq (UAE) and other global investors. The startup was launched in 2021 and provides SMEs with bookkeeping and payment platforms to run their business.

 SECTOR NEWS

Emirates NBD launched an Application Programming Interface (API) developer portal "Emirates NBD API Souq" to engage with partners and fintechs in the country. The current API gives developers access to six key categories of account services, payments, collections, real-time notifications, trade services and information services. The bank had launched an API sandbox in 2018.

 PUBLIC MARKETS

Saudi’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) signs a non-binding term sheet with Seera Holding to acquire a 30% stake in its subsidiary AlMosafer, Saudi-based online travel, and bookings platform, for $413M (1.55B SAR), thereby valuing Almosafer at $1B. Seera (back then Al Tayyar) had completed the acquisition of Almosafer in 2019 for a total of $25M ($6M for 60% in 2015, and $19M for the remaining 40% in 2019).

 REPORTS

YouGov published global survey findings about consumer sentiments towards cryptocurrencies. The survey was conducted across 18 international markets including the UAE. According to the survey findings, consumers in the UAE have split views about cryptocurrencies; 34% associate them with investments and money making, while 35% view them as a payment method, and the remaining 34% associate crypto will illegal and illicit activities.

The Fraser Institute published the ‘Economic Freedom of the World: 2022 Annual Report’ which measures the degree to which the policies and institutions of countries are supportive of economic freedom for 2020. According to the report, Bahrain ranks first in MENA on the economic freedom index and 39th globally, Jordan ranks second regionally and 46th globally, and UAE ranks third regionally and 49th globally.

APCO Worldwide and GCC Board Directors Institute (GCC BDI) published ‘ESG in the GCC Region: Accelerating Integration 2022’ report which surveyed the leadership of companies across the GCC about their ESG strategies. According to the report, 46.3% of executives said that the pandemic has accelerated their ESG strategies, while the key factors shaping changes in how they report on ESG issues are reputational risks (40%) and investor requirements (30.4%). In 75% of the companies surveyed, the accountability for reaching ESG goals and targets is on the CEO or someone in the C-suite, while 55% of the companies say they are reporting on ESG goals regularly. [Report]

 POLICY