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Saudi Arabia stood out in MENA startup funding during mid-May 2026 as five companies from the Kingdom disclosed new capital infusions across fintech, health technology and business services, according to an Arab News roundup. The most prominent transaction saw Stitch secure $25 million in series A funding led by Andreessen Horowitz, which had not previously backed any venture in the GCC region. The round drew additional support from Arbor Ventures, COTU Ventures, Raed Ventures and SVC. Stitch, which develops a cloud-native operating system for financial institutions encompassing lending, cards, payments and ledgers, reported processing more than $5 billion in transactions over the preceding six months while expanding its customer base tenfold throughout 2025.
TruKKer obtained a securitization facility of up to $300 million from Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Arab News reported on May 16. The arrangement, backed by portfolios of trade receivables spanning the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, constitutes the first multi-jurisdictional asset-backed securitization involving a GCC technology startup. TruKKer, established in 2016, runs a digital freight network across the Middle East and Central Asia that relies on artificial intelligence to optimise logistics operations.
Health-care procurement platform Aumet raised $12 million in series A funding led by Emkan Capital with participation from Qatar Development Bank, SABAH VC, AAIC, Shorooq Partners and Right Side Capital Management, the publication stated. The company had closed a $7 million pre-series A round in March 2023. Aumet, founded in 2016, offers an AI-first operating system tailored for health-care providers and pharmacies. Separately, billing and payments infrastructure provider Stream obtained a $5.2 million seed extension that lifted its total seed capital to $9.2 million in less than six months.
Hakeem Health, a software-as-a-service platform serving hospitals, universities and health-care payers across the GCC, secured $1.65 million in a round led by Merak Capital with Sanabil 500 joining, according to Arab News. Business management startup Gabster raised $500,000 in pre-seed funding from RAI and T2. These transactions added to the week’s momentum in the Kingdom, which has benefited from policy reforms that have supported entrepreneurial growth.
Egyptian delivery company Bosta produced an exit for Beltone Venture Capital and Citadel International Holdings, delivering a 75 percent internal rate of return on their joint investment, the Arab News report noted. Qatar-based HASIF, which develops AI-powered accounting tools for small and medium-sized enterprises, received an undisclosed investment from Snoonu Startup Factory. UAE cybersecurity firm Lyrie.ai raised $2 million in pre-seed capital while exiting stealth mode, and Egyptian proptech operator Byit expanded into the UAE after earlier raising $1.1 million.
Venture investment across MENA totalled $15.4 billion over 3,329 deals in the past five years, with corporate investors contributing 12 percent of both value and volume, a joint MAGNiTT and stc group assessment found. Saudi Arabia and the UAE accounted for 86 percent of corporate-backed funding during that span, the Kingdom representing 57 percent of corporate capital deployed while hosting 46 percent of active corporate investors. MAGNiTT’s separate FY 2025 State of Venture Capital in MENA report placed annual funding at a record $3.8 billion. The 2025 Global Startup Ecosystem Report from Startup Genome ranked Riyadh 23rd worldwide, reflecting more than 800 economic reforms introduced under Saudi Vision 2030 that have accelerated licensing and digital services for new ventures.
