Weekly Market Highlights

25th of December 2025

This week’s updates highlight strong investor activity across AI, fintech, deeptech, and sustainability — with new funding rounds, regional expansion plans, strategic partnerships, and a landmark global edtech initiative driving innovation across MENA, Africa, Europe, and the U.S.

Egypt-based deeptech startup Nawah Scientific has raised $23 million in a Series A round (equity + debt) led by Life Ventures Holding, with participation from Den Ventures, Empire M, AfricInvest, Elsewedy, banks, and angel investors. Founded in 2015, Nawah operates a cloud-lab testing platform serving life sciences, food & agriculture, and pharmaceuticals. The funding will support the launch of a global R&D centre in Rwanda, expand lab capacity in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and accelerate regional and European expansion.

ADQ and the Gates Foundation have launched a $40m partnership to scale responsible AI and EdTech solutions to improve early literacy and numeracy across sub-Saharan Africa. The four-year initiative will fund the AI-for-Education programme and establish a new EdTech & AI Fund to scale proven learning tools at national level. The effort aims to address major learning gaps — where 9 in 10 children cannot read or do basic maths by age 10 — and bridge evidence and funding shortages in the region’s EdTech sector.

Egypt-based online grocery and q-commerce startup Breadfast is in talks with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) for a proposed $13 million equity investment to support expansion into secondary cities and strengthen its tech and operational infrastructure. Founded in 2017, Breadfast operates an AI-powered platform offering 60-minute delivery and vertically integrated fresh food and private-label products through in-house bakeries and production facilities. The potential deal follows a prior $10 million investment from the EBRD to scale Breadfast’s fulfilment network across Egypt. 

Coursera and Udemy agreed to merge in a $2.5B all-stock deal, with Udemy shareholders receiving 0.8 Coursera shares per share (a 26% premium). Coursera holders are expected to own 59% of the combined company and Udemy 41%, with $115M in targeted cost synergies within 24 months and deal closing expected in H2 2026 pending approvals.

Saudi-based AI startup QPioneers has raised its first funding round from Q Fund. Founded in 2024, the company is building an AI-powered Startup Operating System that integrates collaboration, operations, and analytics into one workspace, supported by an intelligent assistant that automates workflows and provides strategic insights. The funding will support product development, hiring key talent, and expanding engagement with startup communities across the region.

UAE-based fintech Lucid Capital has raised $2.5 million in a seed round led by Tharawat Holding, with participation from Singular Link. Founded in 2022, the company develops AI-driven quantitative trading and investment strategies, focusing on algorithmic execution across US equities and digital assets. The funding will support expansion of its trading infrastructure, AI research, and strategy development. In parallel, Lucid Capital secured $200 million in capital commitments from institutions and accredited investors to deploy its strategies at scale.

Egypt-based agritech startup Croptimus has raised an undisclosed investment from Venture X. Founded in 2021, Croptimus converts agricultural and food waste into sustainable bio-products such as biochar and bio-oil, helping farms reduce water and fertiliser use, improve crop health, and cut emissions across B2B supply chains. The startup — a graduate of the Harvest Accelerator — will use the funding to scale its technology and expand across regional and international markets.

Global connectivity startup Roamless raised $12M led by Rasmal Ventures, with participation from regional investors. The company plans to use the funds to expand from Qatar across the GCC, enhance its cloud-based telecom platform, and advance its goal of becoming a global connectivity operator.

TikTok’s U.S. unit is nearing a $14B divestment deal driven by a 2024 law requiring ByteDance to cut ownership below 20%. A new U.S.controlled entity would be led by Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX, with Oracle hosting all U.S. user data and supervising a separate U.S.-only algorithm. ByteDance would retain a minority, non-controlling stake. The deal — impacting 170M U.S. users and TikTok Shop growth — could close by January 22, pending Chinese approval.

Lovable raised $330M in a Series B round led by CapitalG and Menlo Ventures, bringing its valuation to $6.6B. The company builds an AI platform that lets users create apps using plain-text commands and has rapidly grown to over $200M ARR. The funding will support integrations, enterprise features, and infrastructure expansion. Lovable remains based in Sweden, and its raise reflects rising VC interest in AI coding — alongside major competitor Cursor.

LAB7, Aramco’s venture builder arm, joined the first close of an investment round in Finland-based Halide Energy, which develops copper-based Redox Flow battery systems for grid-scale energy storage. The partnership aims to advance long-duration, cost-efficient storage solutions that support renewable energy integration and improve grid stability.

Look out for next week’s updates covering new funding rounds, product launches, and ecosystem developments across the region.