logo
BioSapien extends pre-Series A to $8 million, onboards Globivest as investor

BioSapien extends pre-Series A to $8 million, onboards Globivest as investor

Wamda07-07-2025
UAE and US-based healthtech BioSapien has extended its pre-Series A round to over $8 million, adding Globivest to its list of backers, alongside Global Ventures, Golden Gate Ventures, and Dara Holdings.
Founded in 2018 by Khatija Ali, BioSapien offers a flagship product, MediChip™, which is a drug delivery, 3D-printed, slow-release delivery platform attachable to any tissue with minimal systemic side effects.
The funding will support product development and global expansion, with 12 new executives hired across R&D, medical affairs, regulatory, and operations. Key appointments include Joseph Borrello as CTO and Sonia Ramamoorthy as Head of Medical Affairs.
Press release:
BioSapien, the pioneering biotech company behind MediChip™, a revolutionary localised cancer treatment platform, announces a new extension to its pre-Series A funding round and the appointment of new talent across the business, including Joseph Borrello, PhD, as Chief Technology Officer; Sonia Ramamoorthy MD MBA FACS as Head of Medical Affairs; Agnes Westelinck, PharmD, as Head of Regulatory U.S.; Dirk Richter MD FACS as Head of Regulatory U.A.E.; David Briere, PhD, as Director of Pharmacology; and Jerry Webb, BSc, as Head of Quality.
BioSapien is delighted to welcome Globivest as an investor in the pre-Series A funding round. Globivest is the first women-led, gender lens venture capital fund from the MENA region and has expertise in Life Sciences.
BioSapien's pre-Series A funding total is now over $8 million, with investors including Global Ventures – a leading VC firm in MENA; plus Golden Gate Ventures and Dara Holdings.
Globivest's stated mission is to break the myth that opposes capital returns to impact-driven models. Championing the WHO's 'One Health' approach, it specialises in innovative and scalable early-stage startups that drive health, social, and environmental change – making BioSapien an ideal fit for its portfolio.
BioSapien also announces the acquisition of world-class talent across all tiers of the company— with 12 new appointments. In addition to the appointments listed above, other new talent includes Zhiyu Xia PhD as Senior Manufacturing Engineer, Gaurav Vij MBA as Business Officer; Nancy Sperling MS MS as the QC Lead, Nivedita Sivakumar PharmD MS as Documentation and Compliance Manager, Manny Valenza BA as Clinical Development Associate and Jared Rice BA as the Research and Operations Lead.
Dr. Khatija Ali, CEO of BioSapien, said:
'Two of the greatest challenges for young, fast-growing companies are establishing a strong balance sheet and attracting high-quality talent. Therefore, I am delighted to announce an extension of BioSapien's pre-Series A funding round. As a female-led healthcare fund in the MENA region - and backed by EU pharma - we are proud to have Globivest as an investor and strategic partner.
'Similarly, it gives me great pleasure to welcome new, world-class colleagues across all tiers of the Company. A business is only as good as its people - so it is thrilling to be joined by such high-quality, diverse talent. Together, we will shape a future where precision medicine is both globally impactful and locally accessible.'
Dr. Laura-Joy Boulos, Partner at Globivest, commented:
'At Globivest, we back companies that don't just promise innovation – they deliver transformative, science-backed solutions with the power to shift paradigms. BioSapien's MediChip™ platform is a breakthrough in localised cancer treatment – scalable, precise, and deeply aligned with our One Health mission. We're proud to support Dr. Khatija Ali and her team as they build the future of accessible precision medicine.'
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Saudi insurtech Yasmina closes $2 million Seed
Saudi insurtech Yasmina closes $2 million Seed

Wamda

time7 hours ago

  • Wamda

Saudi insurtech Yasmina closes $2 million Seed

Saudi Arabia-based Yasmina has raised $2 million in a seed round led by Scene Holding, with co-leadership participation from Access Bridge Ventures, Arzan VC, and Sanabil's 500 MENA Accelerator. Founded in 2023 by Masoud Alhelou and Bashar Abalkhail, Yasmina enables digital platforms to offer personalised, API-driven insurance products (SME: medical, motor, life, and general) at checkout, fully regulated and ready in under 48 hours. The funding will help Yasmina scale operations beyond KSA, with planned launches in UAE (2025) and Egypt (2026). Press release: Yasmina, the pioneering embedded insurance platform based in Riyadh, has successfully secured $2 million in Seed funding. Scene Holding led the round, co-led by Access Bridge Ventures, with participation from Arzan VC and early backing from the Sanabil Investment Accelerator by 500 MENA. Founded in 2023 by Masoud Alhelou and Bashar Abalkhail, Yasmina is transforming how insurance is delivered across digital platforms. By offering seamless API integration that enables digital businesses to provide personalised insurance at checkout in under 48 hours, Yasmina meets customers where they are, with full regulatory approval and a frictionless user experience. Since its inception, Yasmina has formed strategic partnerships across HR, auto, travel, POS, and real estate platforms. These collaborations are expected to bring embedded insurance to over 1.5 million customers, offering a range of products including SME Medical, Motor, Life, and General Insurance. With $2M in Seed funding, Yasmina is scaling its team and launching operations beyond Saudi Arabia, beginning with the UAE this year and Egypt in 2026. Masoud Alhelou, Yasmina's Co-founder and CEO, commented: 'This round is a strong vote of confidence in our vision to simplify insurance across digital touchpoints. We're proud to be the first embedded insurance platform in Saudi Arabia, and this funding will help us scale faster, serve more partners, and redefine how protection is offered in the region.'‍ Sultan Ghaznawi, Chairman & Managing Director of Scene Holding, commented: 'At Scene Holding, we back founders who are solving legacy problems with precision and scale. Yasmina's API-first model and regulatory momentum place it at the intersection of Insurtech, fintech and protection, a space we believe will define the next wave of value creation across MENA.' Rakan AlRashed, Partner at Access Bridge Ventures, commented: "At Access Bridge Ventures, we're passionate about the untapped potential of Saudi Arabia's Insurtech landscape. Yasmina's team has paired deep sector insight with impressive early traction, and they're well-positioned to become the breakout player the market has been waiting for. We're thrilled to support them and are confident that together we can reshape how insurance is delivered across the Kingdom." Amal Dokhan, Managing Partner at 500 Global, commented: 'At 500, we support bold founders aiming to solve meaningful problems, and Yasmina is an example. We believed in their vision early on, and their momentum today shows just how powerfully embedded insurance can be across our region.' Hasan J. Zainal, Arzan VC's Founder & Managing Partner, commented: 'For years, insurance companies in the region have followed a well-worn path – familiar, but far from transformative. We believe the Yasmina team is uniquely positioned to drive innovation in this sector, thanks to their superior understanding and strategic insight into the regional insurance landscape.'

Lucidya secures $30 million in Series B, setting a MENA AI funding record
Lucidya secures $30 million in Series B, setting a MENA AI funding record

Wamda

time8 hours ago

  • Wamda

Lucidya secures $30 million in Series B, setting a MENA AI funding record

Saudi Arabia-based SaaS platform Lucidya has raised $30 million in a Series B round. The round was led by Impact46, with participation from Wa'ed Ventures (Aramco), Takamol Ventures, SparkLabs, Rua Growth Fund, and ARG. Founded in 2016 by Abdullah Asiri, Lucidya serves clients across 11 MENA countries spanning telecom, BFSI, healthcare, hospitality, and the public sector—covering over 75 million users. Its Arabic-native AI engine delivers >92% accuracy, enabling smarter CX automation, sentiment analysis, and omnichannel engagement. The investment will accelerate the development of Lucidya's AI Agent platform, automating customer-facing roles in sales, support, and marketing. In 2022, Lucidya raised a funding round at $6 million, led by Rua Growth Fund with participation from M.A.L Ventures and AlRashed Group, along with other investors. Press release: Lucidya, MENA's leading AI-Powered customer experience management (CXM) platform, has announced the close of its $30 million Series B round—the largest AI investment ever raised in the region. The round was led by Impact46, the Saudi VC behind IPOs Jahez and Rasan. New participants included Aramco's investment arm Wa'ed Ventures, government-backed, digital-innovation catalyst Takamol Ventures, and SparkLabs. Existing investors Rua Growth Fund and ARG also returned, doubling down on their long-term conviction in Lucidya's trajectory. Congratulations were delivered by H.E. Eng. Abdullah Alswaha, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, during his visit to Lucidya's Riyadh headquarters. Founded in 2016 and backed by VCs since 2019, Lucidya is one of MENA's AI pioneers. Operating in 11 countries, it serves telecom, BFSI, hospitality, healthcare, and public sector clients with a combined market cap over USD250 billion—enhancing experiences for their 75 million+ customers and citizens across the region. Abdullah Asiri, Lucidya's CEO and Founder, commented on the round, explaining, 'We bet on AI back in 2016, long before it became a boardroom buzzword. That early conviction is now paying off as we become the trusted, regional AI partner for CX.' At the core of Lucidya's platform is a proprietary Arabic-language AI engine with +92% accuracy—an industry benchmark that powers deep insights, intelligent engagement, and automation across customer touchpoints where others fall short. Lucidya is targeting MENA's rapidly growing CRM/CX software market, projected to reach $9 billion by 2030. Commenting on the milestone, Asiri shared, 'We chose Impact46 to lead this round because they are one of the most proven VCs, with two IPOs in their portfolio. They are the perfect partner to scale Lucidya to a global AI force.' 'Lucidya is exactly the kind of company we look to back—founders solving real regional challenges with defensible tech and bold ambition,' said Impact46 Partner, Basmah Alsinaidi. 'Their mastery of Arabic-first AI and traction with top-tier enterprises mark them as a future category leader.' With this investment, Lucidya will scale its AI Agent offering, positioning itself as a digital workforce platform for customer-facing roles; automating and personalising engagement across support, marketing, sales, and CX while cutting costs and ensuring compliance like PDPL. Asiri highlighted the expansion's impact: 'By expanding into AI Agents, we're tapping into the region's labour economy, turning workforce costs into scalable, compliant AI capacity.'

Sukna Capital secures CMA approval to offer flexible, non-dilutive SME financing
Sukna Capital secures CMA approval to offer flexible, non-dilutive SME financing

Wamda

time8 hours ago

  • Wamda

Sukna Capital secures CMA approval to offer flexible, non-dilutive SME financing

Saudi Arabia-based VC Sukna Capital has received CMA approval to launch the Sukna Fund for Direct Financing (SFDF), an open-ended, Sharia-compliant direct lending fund in MENA, unlocking flexible, non-dilutive capital access for SMEs across the Kingdom. The fund allows periodic investor liquidity and gives founders access to asset-backed financing without giving up equity, addressing critical funding gaps in underserved sectors and supporting Vision 2030 goals to boost SME lending. Backed by Sukna's proprietary tech infrastructure and a veteran team with over $6.5B in transaction experience, SFDF reflects a founder-aligned approach to private credit, with a mission to modernise institutional financing for the region's high-growth businesses. Press release: Sukna Capital has received official approval from the Saudi Capital Market Authority (CMA) to launch the Sukna Fund for Direct Financing. SFDF is KSA's first open-ended, sharia compliant direct lending fund—marking a regulatory milestone for non-bank financing in MENA. As a CMA-licensed alternative asset investment platform, Sukna is now authorised to offer institutional investors access to a vehicle that provides non-dilutive, scalable financing for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) seeking accelerated growth without equity dilution. Unlike traditional private credit vehicles, the open-ended fund structure enables investors to enter and exit at regular intervals, offering periodic liquidity with no long lock-up periods. For SMEs, this unlocks access to asset-backed capital while enabling founders to retain complete ownership and avoid the limitations of equity financing. Fares Bardeesi, CEO of Sukna, described the launch as a pivotal step in expanding institutional credit access for underserved sectors across the region. With over two decades of experience in corporate finance and private investments, Fares has led more than USD 6.5 billion in transactions across real estate, technology, and healthcare. As a co-founder of Sukna Ventures and the architect behind Sukna's evolution into structured private debt, he emphasised the urgent need to close funding gaps for both traditional and innovation-led SMEs. 'As of Q3 2024, SME lending in Saudi Arabia is estimated to be SAR 329.23 billion—just 9.1% of total bank credit—well below the Vision 2030 target of 15 to 20 percent,' he noted. 'SFDF is designed to address that gap through institutional, regulator-aligned capital solutions tailored to the needs of high-potential businesses across sectors.' This announcement comes at a pivotal moment, as the Middle East's tech and startup landscape undergoes rapid transformation, while traditional funding structures have not kept pace with founders' evolving needs. Waleed Alballaa, Managing Partner of Sukna Ventures and member of the Fund's Investment Committee, underscored the importance of timing: 'The tech and startup ecosystem has matured significantly, but financing structures simply haven't caught up. We designed SFDF to meet founders where they are—with the right capital, at the right time, and without the red tape.' Waleed brings his unique, founder-centric perspective to the fund, shaped by over two decades at the intersection of technology, operations, and venture capital across Silicon Valley and Saudi Arabia. His deep technical foundation is complemented by a decade dedicated to venture capital, during which he was instrumental in launching multiple investment vehicles and serving on the boards of several prominent technology companies. His holistic experience gives him a firsthand understanding of the capital gaps that can hinder high-growth companies. The launch of SFDF builds on the success of Sukna Ventures, the firm's technology-focused investment arm, known for backing bold, high-growth startups in mobility, logistics, and digital marketplaces. Sukna also leverages proprietary technology to streamline loan origination, risk assessment, portfolio monitoring, and investor reporting, ensuring a transparent and scalable experience for both borrowers and institutional capital partners.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store