Qatar's ShipBee secures $235,000 pre-seed led by GrowthX
Doha-based logistics startup ShipBee has closed a $235,000 pre-seed round, led by Qatar-based GrowthX and supported by two angel investors and $40,000 in bootstrapped funding from the founders.
The deal brings the company's valuation to $1 million.
Founded in March 2024 by Tamer Raafat and Amer Azani, ShipBee offers logistics solutions including a digital marketplace, AI-integrated SaaS, mobile apps, and express international shipping.
The fresh capital will fuel team expansion, product development, and regional scaling.
Press release:
ShipBee, an innovative & AI-powered one-stop-shop digital logistics marketplace providing end-to-end logistics solutions, incubated & supported by the mobility incubator of Qatar Development Bank and the Digital Incubation Center, today announced the successful closure of its Pre-Seed funding round, raising a total of QAR 855,000 from institutional and angel investors, valuing the early-stage startup at QR 3,570,000. This significant investment will fuel the company's mission to transform how businesses and consumers manage shipping, delivery, and logistics operations, both locally and internationally.
The funding, led by GrowthX alongside contributions from two angel investors, joins ShipBee's founders' additional bootstrapping of over QR150,000. The founding partners, Tamer Raafat and Amer Azani will lead ShipBee, and Dr Allan Villegas, a member of the executive committee of the board of directors of QSTP, joins Shipbee's board, marking a significant milestone in ShipBee's mission to transform logistics for businesses and consumers. The funding will accelerate ShipBee's growth, supporting technology development, marketing, team expansion, and scaling operations.
Founded in March 2024, ShipBee offers a one-stop platform for both local and international logistics, including a marketplace, user and driver apps, and SaaS solutions for businesses managing shipping operations. The company has rapidly gained traction, securing partnerships with industry leaders such as Snoonu, Qatar Post, DHL, NEXX (a Chinese AI logistics company), and many local service providers and retail businesses. ShipBee's innovative approach has earned recognition, including winning the 1st QDB Innovation Hackathon for Mobility and being incubated by QDB-QBIC and the Digital Incubation Center through the Idea Camp 8th Edition.
According to Tamer Raafat, co-founder and CEO of ShipBee, the funding will significantly support key initiatives such as technology developments, securing government contracts, achieving product-market fit, and implementing new AI solutions to enhance the platform. 'This funding empowers us to scale our vision of simplifying logistics through cutting-edge technology,' said Tamer Raafat, CEO. 'ShipBee's vision is to build a smart logistics ecosystem in Qatar and MENA using the power of AI and new technologies.'
'We are thrilled to support ShipBee's pioneering vision to transform logistics. As Qatar aims to become a global logistics hub and advance its Vision 2030 shift toward a digital economy, ShipBee perfectly aligns with these strategic goals by combining innovation with logistics excellence. GrowthX is proud to be their pre-seed investor and to have supported the successful close of this funding round. I firmly believe ShipBee has the potential to become a leading technology-driven logistics platform, both regionally and globally.' – Hamad Al Hajri, CEO & Founder of GrowthX, CEO & Founder of Snoonu.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Bawaba
4 hours ago
- Al Bawaba
VAST Data and Cisco Expand Partnership to Deliver Turnkey, Scalable Infrastructure for Enterprise AI
VAST Data, the AI Operating System company, today announced the expansion of its strategic partnership with Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) to deliver a fully integrated and validated AI infrastructure stack that spans compute, networking, storage, and observability. The VAST AI Operating System is now available directly through Cisco's Global Price List (GPL) and is fully supported by Cisco as part of the joint solution – simplifying how enterprises implement, operate, and scale modern AI environments by enabling customers to seamlessly procure and deploy VAST AI OS alongside Cisco UCS servers, Nexus switching, and Cisco Nexus Hyperfabric VAST and Cisco provide a turnkey platform for building enterprise AI Factories – agentic, data-intensive AI systems at scale – ensuring security, performance, and operational agility from edge to core to cloud. The joint solution stack enables customers to unify data pipelines, automate infrastructure management, and reason over real-time data using scalable, zero-trust AI Founder and CEO, Renen Hallak, will join Cisco President and Chief Product Officer Jeetu Patel on stage at Cisco Live's Executive Symposium, for a fireside chat discussing this strategic partnership. The conversation will highlight how the two companies are driving enterprise AI adoption and explore key trends shaping the future of AI-driven business.'Cisco and VAST share a vision for making AI infrastructure accessible, secure, and scalable for every enterprise,' said Jeremy Foster, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Cisco Compute. 'We're enabling customers to collapse complexity and unlock faster time-to-value by providing a unified infrastructure stack built for the demands of AI.'The joint solution integrates key technologies across both platforms, including:● A Consolidated AI Infrastructure Stack: A jointly validated, enterprise-grade platform that brings together Cisco's compute and networking leadership with the industry defining VAST AI Operating System – delivering a full-stack solution for AI infrastructure that's simple to deploy, easy to manage, and built to scale from day one.● Integrated AI Execution with InsightEngine and AgentEngine: Customers can now run end-to-end AI pipelines – from retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) to real-time reasoning – directly within VAST's AI OS on Cisco UCS. VAST InsightEngine accelerates vector search, data preparation, and inference workflows at the point of data, while AgentEngine takes this further by orchestrating autonomous agents that continuously operate on live data streams, enabling real-time, event-driven decision-making. These capabilities empower Cisco environments to become intelligent execution layers – turning raw data into continuous, actionable insight.● Unified AI Data and Compute Services: A consolidated software stack via the VAST AI Operating System that simplifies infrastructure complexity by unifying structured, unstructured, and vector data management with agentic compute services – enabling real-time reasoning for next-gen AI applications and workflow automation at scale.● Enterprise-Grade Performance and Scalability: High-performance compute with Cisco UCS and scalable, AI-optimized network fabrics via Cisco Nexus, validated to run seamlessly with VAST's Disaggregated Shared Everything (DASE) architecture – delivering predictable performance across even the largest AI deployments.● Faster Time-to-Value with Turnkey Automation: SaaS-based orchestration and lifecycle management from Cisco Nexus Hyperfabric AI, combined with VAST's intelligent dataflows and global namespace, streamline infrastructure provisioning, monitoring, and scaling across the full AI pipeline.● Built-In Security and Multi-Tenant Readiness: A zero-trust infrastructure model that combines VAST's native data governance and multi-tenant controls with Cisco's secure platform architecture—ensuring isolated, compliant environments for sensitive AI workloads across hybrid and on-prem VAST + Cisco solution is purpose-built for generative and agentic AI workloads, enabling customers to power complex, data-driven applications with the performance, insight, and operational control needed to drive business transformation. 'This partnership represents the convergence of two best-in-class platforms to create a foundational blueprint for enterprise AI,' said Renen Hallak, Founder and CEO at VAST Data. 'By aligning the VAST AI OS with Cisco's UCS and Nexus infrastructure, we're delivering the turnkey simplicity, observability, and scalability that enterprises need to deploy and manage intelligent systems globally.'
Al Bawaba
5 hours ago
- Al Bawaba
Lg's 10 Million-selling Cutting-edge Oled and Qned Tv Lineup Set to Redefine Home Entertainment in the Gcc
LG Electronics (LG), a global leader in consumer electronics and home entertainment, is thrilled to announce the upcoming launch of its groundbreaking 2025 OLED and QNED TV lineup across the region. Building on a legacy of innovation and a proven track record of success, LG is poised to elevate the home entertainment experience for consumers throughout the GCC. The regional launch follows hot on the heels of LG's recent incredible milestone of selling over 10 million OLED units in Europe – a testament to the technology's superior picture quality, design, and overall viewing experience – an achievement that underscores the trust and confidence consumers worldwide place in LG OLED TVs as the gold standard in premium home entertainment. LG has for the past 12 years consistently delivered unstoppable world's first OLED innovations, including the curved; 4K; Ultra Slim Wallpaper; 8K; Rollable; 4K 120hz Wireless; 4K Wireless and Transparent; True Wireless 4K; and three-times brighter AI-powered OLED TVs. Not to mention being the first brand to surpass the 10-million-mark of OLED sales in Europe. Featuring the M5, G5, C5, and B5 series, LG's 2025 OLED models are designed to deliver an exceptional viewing experience. Renowned for their perfect blacks, vibrant colors, and infinite contrast, creating images that are remarkably lifelike, LG OLED TVs take picture quality to the next level with the advanced α (Alpha) AI processors, ensuring stunning visuals regardless of the content source. Additionally, all four models boast "Perfect Black" and "Perfect Color" certifications, guaranteeing an immersive viewing experience in any lighting conditions. The complementary new webOS 25 platform, powered by the Alpha AI Processor, offers a personalized and intuitive user experience, where features like AI Picture/Sound Wizard, AI Brightness Control, AI Voice ID, AI Chatbot, and AI Search use Large Language Models (LLMs) to tailor the TV to individual preferences. Gamers, too, will appreciate the industry's first 4K 165Hz Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) on the G5 series, certified by NVIDIA® G-SYNC® and AMD FreeSync Premium, which ensures smooth, tear-free gaming with minimal input lag. And for those averse to cable clutter, the OLED M5 is the world's first OLED TV capable of wirelessly transferring audio and video, with its Zero Connect box allowing for seamless wireless transmission at up to 144Hz, providing greater flexibility in the living space without unsightly wires. But it's not just cutting-edge OLED TVs breaking new ground for LG, which is also redefining the premium LCD TV segment with its 2025 QNED evo lineup. These TVs combine advanced color solutions with cutting-edge Mini LED technology, powered by the α AI processor, and certified by Intertek as delivering rich, true-to-life colors in both bright and dark environments. Better still, AI Object Enhancer and Dynamic Tone Mapping Pro refine light control, enhance contrast, and enrich faces, bodies, and key scene elements for immersive visuals, while virtual 9.1.2 surround sound from AI Sound Pro delivers unmatched depth and spatial clarity through the TV's built-in speakers. LG is committed to pushing the boundaries of TV technology, delivering products that resonate with its customers the world over, with the 2025 OLED and QNED lineup reflecting a promise of visually-arresting perfection.
Al Bawaba
5 hours ago
- Al Bawaba
JAGGAER accelerates its Agentic AI vision with appointment of first Chief Digital & AI Officer
JAGGAER, a global leader in source-to-pay and supplier collaboration, is delighted to announce the appointment of Gopinath 'GP' Polavarapu to Chief Digital and AI Officer (CDAO). GP will now only guide but accelerate AI strategy delivering JAGGAER's objective to embed intelligence for a hyper-automated, conversational, and collaborative platform that enhances human decision-making and accelerates business the new role as CDAO, GP will contribute to JAGGAER's end-to-end AI roadmap, encompassing Agentic AI for Jaggaer One Platform and internal employee productivity while building AI capacity with talent acquisition, an AI Center of Excellence, and a hub for AI thought leadership. GP brings with him a wealth of experience in enterprise AI solutions, most recently as the Chief Solutions Officer at and will collaborate with the Chief Product Officer, Jon Lawrence, and Chief Strategic Officer, Pascal d'Arc, to lead the JAGGAER AI transformation a passion for technology and innovation, GP also enjoys mentoring emerging AI talent and has a deep commitment to driving transformative business change through the power of artificial intelligence.'I'm honored to join JAGGAER's exceptional team as Chief Digital and AI Officer,' said Gopinath Polavarapu, Chief Digital and AI Officer at JAGGAER. 'By embedding fine-tuned LLMs, AI Agents and Agentic workflows into the JAGGAER One platform, we will automate spend analysis, contract intelligence, and invoice processing, transforming data into real-time autonomous actions and process automation for spend management. I look forward to working with JAGGAER, our leadership team, and our customers to reinforce JAGGAER's position as the premier vertical AI spend management provider, delivering unmatched efficiency, compliance, and cost savings.' 'While JAGGAER has been leading with AI offerings in the procurement market for years, the addition of GP as our Chief Digital & AI Officer will foster even faster innovation through generational technological transformation. Each member of JAGGAER's leadership team was selected for their unique background and talent to contribute to customer success, and GP is no exception in this regard. The last five years will certainly not be the same as the next five years, and we welcome fresh perspectives to steward us through our next phase of growth with Agentic AI.' said Yancey Spruill, Interim JAGGAER CEO and Operating Managing Director at Vista Equity Partners.
