{"id":49999,"date":"2025-08-18T09:06:24","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T06:06:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/entarabi.com\/?p=49999"},"modified":"2025-08-18T20:21:22","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T17:21:22","slug":"49999","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entarabi.com\/en\/2025\/08\/49999\/","title":{"rendered":"Startup Investments Redraw the Digital Landscape in Middle East"},"content":{"rendered":"<p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\">During the second week of August 2025 (August 10\u201316), the Middle East and Arab region witnessed a remarkable wave of activity in the venture capital and acquisitions landscape.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\">From groundbreaking AI initiatives to strategic funding in gaming, Web3, and PropTech, the week highlighted the growing momentum of startups across Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and beyond.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\">This report by&#8221;EntArabi&#8221; provides a breakdown of key deals by country and sector, supported by fresh data and market insights.<\/p>\n<h2 dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\">Key Highlights of the Week<\/h2>\n<ul dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<li>PIF launches ALLaM 34B AI model via its subsidiary HUMAIN, focusing on Arabic language and Saudi culture.<\/li>\n<li>Coraly.ai (UAE) raises $2M pre-seed to expand into Saudi Arabia, Europe, and the US.<\/li>\n<li>Impact46 (Saudi Arabia) invests 25M SAR in five gaming studios, reinforcing the Kingdom\u2019s position as a global gaming hub.<\/li>\n<li>HODL announces Dubai &amp; Riyadh Web3 tour, bridging decentralized finance with traditional finance.<\/li>\n<li>Shahbandar partners with Tamara to enable BNPL services for over 18,000 merchants in Saudi Arabia.<\/li>\n<li>Perplexity shocks the market with a $34.5B acquisition offer for Google Chrome.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\">Investments by Country<\/h2>\n<table class=\" alignleft\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<td>Country<\/td>\n<td>Key Deals<\/td>\n<td>Value<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Saudi Arabia<\/td>\n<td>Impact46 invests in 5 gaming studios (25M SAR); Shahbandar\u2013Tamara BNPL deal; PIF launches ALLaM 34B<\/td>\n<td>+25M SAR (\u2248$6.6M) + strategic partnerships<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>UAE<\/td>\n<td>Coraly.ai raises $2M pre-seed for expansion in KSA, Europe, US<\/td>\n<td>$2M<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Regional \/ Global<\/td>\n<td>HODL Web3 Tour (Dubai &amp; Riyadh); Perplexity $34.5B Chrome bid<\/td>\n<td>N\/A (strategic + M&amp;A)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2 dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>Investments by Sector<\/strong><\/h2>\n<table class=\" alignleft\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<td>Sector<\/td>\n<td>Company \/ Deal<\/td>\n<td>Value<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Artificial Intelligence<\/td>\n<td>PIF\u2019s HUMAIN launches ALLaM 34B AI model<\/td>\n<td>Strategic (undisclosed)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>PropTech (AI-driven Real Estate)<\/td>\n<td>Coraly.ai raises $2M pre-seed<\/td>\n<td>$2M<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Gaming &amp; eSports<\/td>\n<td>Impact46 invests in 5 gaming studios (Vahi, Najd, Game Cooks, Starvenia, Alpaca)<\/td>\n<td>25M SAR (\u2248$6.6M)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>E-commerce \/ FinTech<\/td>\n<td>Shahbandar partners with Tamara (BNPL for 18K stores)<\/td>\n<td>Strategic partnership<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Web3 &amp; Blockchain<\/td>\n<td>HODL Web3 Tour (Dubai &amp; Riyadh, Oct\u2013Nov 2025)<\/td>\n<td>Ecosystem development<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Tech M&amp;A (Browsers)<\/td>\n<td>Perplexity offers $34.5B to acquire Google Chrome<\/td>\n<td>$34.5B<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2 dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\">Analysis<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\">Saudi Arabia continues to dominate the region\u2019s investment landscape, with Impact46\u2019s $6.6M injection into gaming studios underscoring the Kingdom\u2019s ambition to become a global gaming and esports hub under Vision 2030.<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\">The Shahbandar\u2013Tamara partnership further consolidates Saudi Arabia\u2019s growing role in e-commerce infrastructure.<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\">The UAE maintains its position as a launchpad for regional and global expansion, as seen in Coraly.ai\u2019s pre-seed round, targeting Saudi Arabia as its next growth market.<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\">Meanwhile, Dubai and Riyadh are positioning themselves as dual hubs for Web3 and blockchain, with HODL\u2019s tour serving as a bridge between traditional finance and decentralized ecosystems.<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\">On the global stage, Perplexity\u2019s bold $34.5B bid for Google Chrome shook the tech industry, reflecting the aggressive ambitions of AI-native companies to challenge entrenched tech giants.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\">Conclusion<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\">The second week of August 2025 highlighted a diverse flow of capital and strategic partnerships across AI, gaming, PropTech, and fintech. While Saudi Arabia leads in gaming and e-commerce innovation, the UAE remains a fertile ground for AI-driven startups.<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\">With the AI race heating up and Web3 gaining institutional traction, the region is entering a new phase where traditional and decentralized economies converge, positioning MENA as a rising player in global tech innovation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>During the second week of August 2025 (August 10\u201316), the Middle East and Arab region witnessed a remarkable wave of activity in the venture capital and acquisitions landscape.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":49994,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"post_subtitle":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8850],"tags":[9245,8247,8257,3295,9268],"class_list":["post-49999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-venture","tag-coraly-ai-en","tag-hodl-en","tag-humain","tag-pif","tag-shahbandar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/entarabi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/entarabi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/entarabi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entarabi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entarabi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49999"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/entarabi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49999\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entarabi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/entarabi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entarabi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entarabi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}