Marhaba, fintech friends!

It's Thursday which, as of last week, means another round-up of fintech news from MENA straight to your inbox.

But first, an anecdote. For as long as I’ve been driving, getting gas in the UAE has been a perfectly predictable ritual. Pull in. Pop the fuel tank. The attendant walks up. You make your request. A few minutes pass. Then comes the familiar lean toward the window and the inevitable: Cash or card?

It’s muscle memory by now.

As of this week and for the first time in over a decade, my predictable fueling up routine might change as gas stations introduce a third payment option. This time, when the rep rolls over to my window, the question will sound a little different:

Cash, card… or crypto?

Read on to find out more about this and other fintech updates from MENA.

💸 Fundraises and Exits

 🇪🇬 Nawy, Egypt-based proptech, raises $52 million in Series A funding and $23 million in lending debt to expand its full stack real estate offering, from mortgage solutions to its fractional ownership product, across MENA

🇦🇪 Coinbase will acquire UAE-HQ Deribit for $2.9 billion, including $700 million in cash and 11 million Coinbase Class A common stock

🇸🇦 Oryx Fund announces its investment in Amwal Tech, a pioneering Saudi startup focused on innovative payment and installment solutions for e-commerce

🇪🇬 Bokra, Egypt-based Shariah-compliant wealth management platform, and Aman Holding arrange a near $60 million bond to help finance credit to small- and medium-sized enterprises in Egypt

🇮🇳🇶🇦 India-based real estate fintech, Alt DRX, raises $2.7 million in funding from Qatar Development Bank and other international investors.

💰 Funds

Nama Ventures becomes one of the first foreign venture capital firms to become fully regulated under Saudi Capital Markets law, having received formal approval from the Capital Market Authority to introduce its investment management operations in the Kingdom

Amwal Capital Partners launches a $150 million Shariah-compliant private credit fund targeting Shariah-compliant financing solutions and capital for SMEs

Qatar National Bank's announces the upcoming launch of the QCD Tokenized Money Market fund, developed with DMZ Finance, designed to tokenize traditional assets and introduce digital asset instruments to regional and international markets

🚀 Partnerships & Product Launches

Emirates NBD signs an MoU with Nasscom, a leading trade association for India's tech industry, to strengthen cross-border fintech innovation between both countries

Astra Tech's Botim joins forces with Mbank to introduce the UAE's first fintech-integrated Jaywan card scheme

Dubai Finance partners with Crypto.com to roll out cryptocurrency payments for government service fees in Dubai, as part of the city's cashless strategy

The UAE's state-owned fuel provider, Emarat, introduces crypto payments at gas stations in partnership with Crypto.com

🏛 Licensing & Regulations

The Central Bank of the UAE grants Nymcard a license to provide Open Finance services

HashKey Group, Hong Kong-HQ Web3 infrastructure developer, becomes licensed by Dubai's VARA to provide virtual asset exchange and broker-dealer services

📚 Read of the week

McKinsey's recently published: MENA fintech’s ascent: Growth, investment, and the path forward 🧠

Here are my 5 takeaways for those who prefer the TL;DR version:

1. MENA’s fintech sector is outpacing global growth, with net revenues projected to grow by 35% annually through 2028. More than double the global average of 15%.
2. Fintech currently accounts for just 1 to 2% of banking revenues in the GCC, leaving significant headroom for expansion when compared to mature markets like the US and UK, where fintech’s share is 3 to 5%.
3. The region now hosts more than 1000 fintech firms, including four unicorns, with $1.9 billion raised across 237 deals between 2023 and 2024 alone.
4. Top-performing MENA fintechs have achieved 2x to 8x revenue growth over the past two years, and roughly one-third are already profitable.
5. Investors are optimistic, expecting 2 to 5 new fintech unicorns in the next three years.

Thank you for tuning in!

If you have feedback on this edition of This Week in Fintech MENA, please reach out on LinkedIn.

Until next week,

Salam ✌🏼