Middle East
Financial Inclusion | September 11, 2023
myZoi clinches $14 million to support migrant workers in Gulf states
ImpactAlpha, September 11 – Abu Dhabi-based fintech venture myZoi has found a significant need in the oil-rich Gulf: financial inclusion for the region’s …
Investing in Health | July 27, 2023
Desaisiv raises $2 million to expand health insurance in the Middle East
ImpactAlpha, July 27 – Wealth extremes between oil-rich countries like Saudi Arabia, middle-income countries like Jordan, and unstable economies like Lebanon and Syria …
Climate Finance | February 14, 2023
Sand to Green secures $1 million to regenerate Morocco’s desert
ImpactAlpha, February 14 – France and Morocco-based Sand to Green is completing a three-year sustainable agroforestry pilot that uses valuable crops, like rosemary …
Image credit: Yodawy
Dealflow | February 13, 2023
Egypt’s Yodawy raises $16 million to digitize prescriptions
ImpactAlpha, February 13 – Egypt offers public health insurance to its 110 million citizens, but gaps in service and care quality drive many …
Frontier and Growth Markets | February 1, 2023
MNT-Halan raises $200 million to expand access to financial services in Egypt
ImpactAlpha, February 1 – MNT-Halan’s evolution into an Egyptian “super-app” is long and complex. The quick version: In 2019, founder Mounir Nakhla merged …
Clean Energy | October 27, 2022
Saudi Aramco launches a $1.5 billion fund for energy-transition technologies
ImpactAlpha, October 27 – Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil company Aramco announced a $1.5 billion venture fund to invest in in carbon capture and storage, …
Hyderabad, Pakistan in July.
Signals | September 1, 2022
Epic floods in Pakistan highlight gap in climate funding for emerging markets
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 1 – The monsoon-season floods sweeping through Pakistan have killed more than 1,000 people, including hundreds of children, and created at …
Photo credit: Akorn
Frontier and Growth Markets | August 3, 2022
Morocco’s UM6P Ventures backs U.S. and Israeli food tech startups
ImpactAlpha, August 3 – UM6P Ventures, the venture investing arm of Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, launched last year, supports early-stage science and tech startups …
Photo credit: Manara
Good Jobs | May 10, 2022
Manara scores $3 million to upskill tech workers in North Africa and the Middle East
ImpactAlpha, May 10 — Former engineers Iliana Montauk and Laila Abudahi launched Manara last year to offer coding classes for engineering students from …
Image credit: Gamiphy, an Ibtikar portfolio company
Frontier and Growth Markets | February 17, 2022
Ibtikar’s second fund for Palestinian tech reaches $15 million first close
ImpactAlpha, February 17 – Ibtikar Fund is building on the thesis of its first fund from 2016: that Palestinian tech entrepreneurs building regional …
Photo credit: Blu Spring
Innovative Finance | December 2, 2021
Dutch loan fund links better terms to better educational outcomes
ImpactAlpha, December 2 — The Impact-Linked Fund for Education will deploy social impact incentives and impact-linked loans to education-focused social enterprises and market-based …
Photo credit: TOM TRAMBOW.
Climate Finance | November 10, 2021
European Investment Bank and Allianz Global target €500 million for climate fund
ImpactAlpha, November 10 — Allianz Global, the €633 billion ($733.9 billion) asset management arm of German financial services company Allianz, teamed up with …
Image credit: Dopay
Dealflow | September 22, 2021
Dopay raises $18 million to bank Egypt’s businesses and their workers
ImpactAlpha, September 22 – London and Cairo-based Dopay strategy for financial inclusion: offer financial services to businesses – and then signs up their …
Photo credit: IFAD.
Dealflow | August 30, 2021
Khatabook and Bazaar raise financing to digitize small businesses in India and Pakistan
ImpactAlpha, August 30 — Investors continue to swarm enterprise technology providers helping small businesses go online. Last week, Nuvemshop raised $500 million to …
Photo credit: MaxAB
Dealflow | July 6, 2021
MaxAB raises $40 million to digitize Egypt’s mom-and-pop stores
ImpactAlpha, July 6 – Most of Egypt’s 100 million consumers buy staples from small grocery stores and mom-and-pop retailers. MaxAB launched three years …
PC: HBR.
Impact Tech | April 12, 2021
Village Capital backs tech startups in Jordan and Chile
ImpactAlpha, April 12 — Washington, D.C.-based Village Capital has made its first pair of investments through the early-stage Financial Innovation Fund it manages …
Image credit: SWVL
Middle East | April 8, 2021
Egyptian startup funds put North African tech innovation on the map
ImpactAlpha, April 8 – A pair of Cairo-based venture capital funds are supporting entrepreneurs tackling transportation, financial services, market inefficiencies and other regional …
Refugee Lens Investing | April 7, 2021
Kiva closes $32.5 million fund to promote financial inclusion for refugees
ImpactAlpha, April 7 — San Francisco-based Kiva launched in 2005 soared to prominence as a microfinance crowdfunding platform. In its second act, “I …
Dealflow | March 23, 2021
OurCrowd secures $50 million to invest in water and agtech ventures
ImpactAlpha, March 23 — Waterfund, a global water investment firm, is backing Israel-based venture investing platform OurCrowd. The company launched its first impact …
2030 Finance | March 16, 2021
Pure Harvest secures a $50 million sukuk for Middle East greenhouse expansion
ImpactAlpha, March 16 — Abu Dhabi-based Pure Harvest Smart Farms launched in 2016 to provide locally-grown, sustainable food in the United Arab Emirates, …
Photo credit: Future Meat
Dealflow | February 2, 2021
Future Meat raises $26.8 million to go to market with lab-grown chicken
ImpactAlpha, February 2 – The one unproven category in the alternative protein craze is “cellular meat” – lab-grown meat from animal cells – which …
Dealflow | January 7, 2021
Investors back small business inventory financing in Pakistan and Egypt
ImpactAlpha, January 4 – Emerging market tech startups that are supporting the digitization of micro and small businesses are helping lead the COVID recovery. …
Photo credit: Ilara Health
Dealflow | December 17, 2020
Global Ventures tightens focuse on global health with investment in Ilara Health
ImpactAlpha, December 17 – Global Ventures hit the market two years ago with an investment thesis focused on leveraging technology to address basic …
Dealflow | June 22, 2020
Egypt’s Chefaa secures early funding for medicine delivery service
ImpactAlpha, June 22 – Cario-based Chefaa launched its prescription drug marketplace in 2017 to help chronic-disease patients fill prescriptions and access items like …
Dealflow | March 10, 2020
Accion Venture Lab invests in Egyptian neobank Khazna
ImpactAlpha, March 10 – Cairo-based fintech Khazna launched in 2019 to bring financial services to 20 million underbanked Egyptians. The company offers mobile …
2030 Finance | December 18, 2019
Capital on the Frontier: Impact in emerging markets is a 2020 growth story
ImpactAlpha, Dece. 18 – Not enough money for promising ventures. Too much money flowing to a few companies. Both statements are true for impact-oriented small …
Good Business | October 29, 2019
Impact washing in the desert
ImpactAlpha, Oct. 29 – The controversial Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia gets underway today. The secret agenda (until yesterday) of the Saudi …
Asia | October 23, 2019
Indonesia’s BMT Bina issues “sharia compliant” bond on blockchain
ImpactAlpha, Oct. 23 – Faith-based investing is not only on the rise, it’s on the cutting edge. Indonesian Islamic microfinance cooperative BMT Bina Ummah raised $50,000 …
Dealflow | June 26, 2019
Israeli tech venture Venn secures $40 million to strengthen urban communities
ImpactAlpha, June 26 – Tel Aviv-based Venn launched in 2016 with a vision of using tech to enable happier, more inclusive city-living. The company has …
Dealflow | May 28, 2019
Agritask raises $6 million to help farmers weather climate change
ImpactAlpha, May 28 – A third of the world depends on agriculture to earn a living. Climate change is making these livelihoods increasingly insecure, particularly …
Africa | April 29, 2019
World Bank dangles $50 million to draw early-stage impact capital to Egypt
ImpactAlpha, April 29 – A third of young Egyptians are unemployed, compared to 13% globally. The World Bank committed $200 million to support …
Agrifood Tech | April 1, 2019
Aqua-Spark backs aquaculture startups BioFishency and Molofeed
ImpactAlpha, April 1 – Dutch sustainable aquaculture investor Aqua-Spark led Israel-based water treatment startup BioFishency’s $2.4 million funding round and invested an undisclosed amount in …
Africa | March 28, 2019
Israel’s Rewire raises $12 million for digital banking for migrants
ImpactAlpha, March 28 – Israeli fintech company Rewire has secured $12 million for its digital banking platform that allows migrants to affordably transfer money to …
Dealflow | March 11, 2019
Israel’s OurCrowd is targeting the Sustainable Development Goals – and measuring its own impact
ImpactAlpha, March 11 – Five out of six Israeli entrepreneurs believe that their businesses are doing social or environmental good. More than one-third …
Dealflow | January 24, 2019
IKEA Foundation backs development impact bond for refugees
ImpactAlpha, January 23 – The philanthropic arm of Swedish furniture company IKEA is committing €6.8 million ($7.7 million) to a development impact bond …
2030 Finance | January 7, 2019
Green for Growth Fund’s loan boosts energy efficiency in Tunisia
ImpactAlpha, January 7 – The Green for Growth Fund, an investment fund for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects in Europe and North …
Dealflow | September 17, 2018
Egypt’s FreshSource raises seed funds to link farmers to markets
ImpactAlpha, September 17 – The Cairo-based agtech company is trying to boost farmer incomes, cut unnecessary costs, and improve the environmental footprint of …
Dealflow | July 3, 2018
Bridges Israel emphasizes the social in new $50 million impact fund
ImpactAlpha, July 2 – It’s the opportunity to deliver healthcare and housing to Israel’s underserved, not the potential of its hot tech sector, that …
Agrifood Tech | June 27, 2018
California’s Crop One and Emirates partner to bring vertical farming to airlines
ImpactAlpha, June 27 – The partners are forming a $40 million joint venture to build a large indoor farm in Dubai to supply …
Dealflow | May 1, 2018
Calvert Impact Capital invests $5 million in Palestinian housing finance
ImpactAlpha, May 1 – Calvert Impact Capital’s three-year loan is going to Vitas Palestine, a 24-year-old microfinance institution that offers loans for small businesses …
Dealflow | April 9, 2018
Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation lends $2M for microfinance in Jordan
ImpactAlpha, April 9 – The Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation made the three-year loan to FINCA Jordan, one of the 20 microfinance institutions in the …
Clean Energy | April 2, 2018
SoftBank backs Saudi Arabia’s ambitious solar effort
ImpactAlpha, April 2 – The renewable energy revolution may be powered by oil money. Saudi Arabia, in a significant escalation of its renewable …
Dealflow | March 7, 2018
Entrepreneurs from eight countries join Endeavor
Endeavor connects high-growth companies with the potential to employ thousands of people to a global network of mentors, resources and customers. At its …
Dealflow | December 7, 2017
In the Middle East, VilCap and MetLife select 11 new fintech prospects
The MetLife Foundation is backing Village Capital’s latest financial tech program in Dubai later this month. Eleven startups have been selected from across the …
Industry News | December 5, 2017
In the Middle East and North Africa, the 2030 global goals are a $600 billion opportunity
Businesses focusing on resilient cities, sustainable agriculture and new energy could propel more than $637 billion in new business activity and 12.4 million …