Marhaba, fintech friends!

This week, Stake raised $31 million in an oversubscribed Series B led by Emirates NBD.

This round is one of a few key developments in a very happening, emerging sector for MENA: proptech. Specifically, the lion's share of momentum lies with the verticals digitizing property as an asset class, underwriting exposure, structuring financing, automating leasing, fractionalizing ownership and embedding credit.

Safqah Capital raised a sizable $15.2 million seed round this week. Earlier this year, Property Finder received a $170 million investment, Morocco's Yakeey raised a $15 million Series A and Saudi's Aamar closed a $4 million seed round.

This is all happening against a proptech-forward backdrop. Dubai's Land Department moved into Phase II of its Real Estate Tokenization Program, building on Prypco Mint and a state-backed push to digitize up to $16 billion in property by 2033.

Last year, Saudi's Real Estate Registry launched national blockchain infrastructure for digital title registration and tokenized ownership at scale.

A space to watch.

And in other news...

💸 Fundraises and Exits

🇦🇪 Stake raises an oversubscribed $31 million Series B round, led by EmiratesNBD

🇦🇪 omnispay closes a $2 million Pre-series A round, led by Infinity Value Capital Group, on its way to becoming a holistic SME finance platform

🇦🇪 UAE-based Smart Bricks, an AI-powered platform for real estate investing, raises a $5 million Pre-seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz’s a16z Speedrun

🇸🇦 SiFi, Saudi-based spend management platform, raises $20 million in Series A funding led by Ra'ed Ventures

🇸🇦 Safqah Capital, Saudi-based fintech/proptech, closes a $15.2 million Seed round led by Shorooq, anb Seed Fund and Rua Growth Fund

🇦🇪 InvestSky raises $4 million in Seed funding from Emkan Capital, Run Ventures, Joa Capital, Al-Romaizan Family Office, among others.

🇦🇪 UAE-based B2B fintech XSquare raises funding from AngelSpark

🇸🇦 Saudi's Madfu, a Sharia-compliant BNPL player, raises a $25.5 million pre-Series A round led by Afaq Capital

🇸🇦 CASHIN closes a $16 million Series A round led by Impact46.

💰 Funds

🇸🇦🇸🇬 Standard Chartered's SC Ventures and Sanabil Studio partner to build and scale SME-focused fintech ventures in Saudi

🇪🇬🇫🇷 Egypt's Beltone Capital acquires Baobab Group, a France-based micro and small business finance provider, for $235 million.

🚀 Partnerships & Product Launches

🇸🇦 Riyadh Air and Mastercard partner to introduce consumer payments, premium airport services and B2B travel payment solutions

🇦🇪 The Dubai Land Department launches Phase II of its Real Estate Tokenization Program, allowing the resale of around 7.8 million real estate tokens within a controlled pilot framework

🇦🇪🇵🇭 OSN, an on-chain FX settlement infrastructure provider, introduces a new fiat-to-stablecoin corridor between the UAE and the Philippines

🇦🇪🇮🇳 India's Juspay enters the Middle East, opening its regional HQ at Dubai International Financial Center

🇦🇪🇵🇭 Careem Pay partners with the Philippines' leading mobile wallet, GCash, to make cross-border payments easier and more accessible to the UAE's Filipino community

🇦🇪 Mamo partners with Dubai Chambers, giving its clients access to seamless payment acceptance, corporate spend management and access to credit

🏛 Licensing & Regulations

🇦🇪 Swiss Bank Maerki Baumann receives an ADGM license to set up in Abu Dhabi under the ARCHIP brand

🇪🇬 Egypt's FRA launches a digital platform for regulatory reporting

🇦🇪 The Central Bank of the UAE approves the launch of DDSC, a dirham-backed stablecoin developed by IHC, First Abu Dhabi Bank and Sirius International Holding, on ADI Chain

🇦🇪 Singapore-HQ asset manager CapitaLand sets up shop in the DIFC

🇦🇪🇪🇬 SmartCrowd's Nawy Shares receives in-principle approval from Dubai's VARA to operate a tokenized real estate platform

🇸🇦 Open World is approved to establish Saudi's first blockchain tokenization centre of excellence in the Kingdom

🇪🇬 Egypt's FRA authorizes securities brokerage companies to market their services on digital payment apps and platforms

🇦🇪 Dubai's Financial Services Authority grants Hong Kong's PhotonPay a license to provide payment services

🇦🇪 e& money receives CBUAE approval to introduce digital lending services

🇸🇦 HyperPay receives SAMA's National Payment Gateway certification

🇪🇬 Egypt's FRA now requires non-banking financial companies with capital over $2.13 million to disclose annual carbon emissions and offset 20% with carbon certificates.

Thank you for tuning in!

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Until next week,

Salam ✌🏼