Latest news with #GlobalVentures
Sharjah 24
a day ago
- Business
- Sharjah 24
Sheraa's inaugural Deal Dock draws $670M+ investor interest
Leading venture capital firms join forces at Deal Dock This edition of Sheraa Deal Dock welcomed the participation of six investors: Global Ventures, Continuous Ventures, Oraseya Capital, Wamda Capital, Beco Capital, and Shorooq Partners. Collectively, these firms represent a capital pool exceeding $671 million, underscoring the strength and growing reputation of Sharjah's entrepreneurial ecosystem, as well as Sheraa's ability to convene mission-aligned capital partners. Each investor brought distinct sector expertise and investment philosophies, contributing to the event's goal of facilitating high-value, founder-investor connections that go beyond the pitch. Facilitating meaningful connections between startups and investors The event aligns with Sheraa's wider mission to accelerate access to capital and support the growth of impactful ventures. Each of the participating startups took part in one-on-one meetings with aligned investors. These meetings were matched to ensure mutual interest and sector alignment, maximising the chances of meaningful outcomes. Founders gain insights in 'Inside the Investor's Mind' fireside chat The event featured a fireside chat titled Inside the Investor's Mind , offering founders rare insight into investor expectations and decision-making dynamics. The chat featured Sonia Weymuller, Co-Founder and General Partner at VentureSouq and a Sheraa Advisory Board Member, in conversation with moderator Nader Amiri, General Partner at Homegrown Ventures and a Sheraa alum. As a leading voice in the investment space, Weymuller shared valuable perspectives drawn from her experience supporting startups across the region and beyond. Strategic partnership with continuous venture capital to boost early-stage funding During the event, Sheraa signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Continuous Venture Capital, marking a strategic collaboration aimed at expanding funding opportunities for Sheraa portfolio startups, specifically targeting those in the pre-seed and seed stages. MoU reinforces Sheraa's commitment to startup growth The MoU was signed by HE Sara Abdulaziz Al Nuaimi, CEO of Sheraa, and Colin Meagle, Founding Partner of Continuous Venture Capital. This partnership reinforces Sheraa's commitment to accelerating startup growth by facilitating access to early-stage capital, strengthening investment readiness, and connecting founders with regional and international investors. Through this collaboration, startups will benefit from strategic support, market exposure, and tailored engagement with Continuous VC's investment network. Empowering purpose-driven entrepreneurs through strategic collaboration Her Excellency Sara Abdulaziz Al Nuaimi, CEO of Sheraa, said: 'Sheraa Deal Dock reflects our continued commitment to building platforms that unlock meaningful opportunities for both entrepreneurs and investors...' She added: 'We recognise that early-stage founders need more than just capital; they need partners who understand the challenges of building a business and are committed to their long-term success..." Continuous VC affirms commitment to regional innovation Highlighting the strategic value of the collaboration, Colin Meagle, Founding Partner, Continuous Venture Capital said: "We believe that transformative ventures often begin with a single opportunity; one that's backed by belief, guidance, and access to the right resources..." Sheraa's track record and future vision for Sharjah's startup ecosystem Sheraa Deal Dock exemplifies Sheraa's role in positioning Sharjah as a global hub for entrepreneurship and innovation. Since 2016, Sheraa has supported over 450 startups and helped raise nearly $300 million in funding. Events like Deal Dock represent the next chapter in this journey, where curated access, quality engagement, and measurable outcomes define success.
CairoScene
23-05-2025
- Business
- CairoScene
UAE's Tarjama Raises $15M to Scale Its Arabic-Focused AI Platform
Backed by Global Ventures and Wamda, Tarjama will expand its Arabic AI systems and launch an AI academy targeting enterprise use. May 23, 2025 UAE-based language technology firm Tarjama has secured $15 million in a Series A funding round to grow its proprietary Arabic-first artificial intelligence platform. The round was led by Global Ventures with support from Wamda Capital, TA Ventures, Phaze Capital, Golden Gate Ventures, and Endeavor Catalyst. Founded in 2009, Tarjama develops tools for machine translation, transcription, and content generation in over 50 languages, including 22 Arabic dialects. With the new capital, the company will scale its engineering team, upgrade its infrastructure, and launch an AI Academy to support talent development in the region. At the core of Tarjama's push is Pronoia V2, a large language model designed to outperform existing global AI systems on Arabic-language tasks. Built for enterprise use, Pronoia V2 supports applications in legal, government, and media sectors, among others. Tarjama currently serves over 700 clients across more than 30 global markets. This investment comes amid growing efforts in the Middle East to develop Arabic-native AI infrastructure. While global language models often underperform in Arabic due to data scarcity and linguistic complexity, regional startups like Tarjama are looking to bridge this gap with purpose-built models. Countries such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia have prioritised Arabic AI in their national tech strategies, with initiatives such as Falcon LLM and Noor LLM reflecting a broader push to ensure the language is meaningfully represented in the AI era.
Bloomberg
22-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Middle East Funding Gaps Risk Delaying Startups' IPO Ambitions
Startups in the Middle East are at risk of losing momentum and facing a longer path to public listings due to a lack of funding for firms trying to scale, according to Noor Sweid, founder of venture capital firm Global Ventures. 'There is a massive funding gap in the Series B stage,' Sweid said in an interview on the sidelines of the Fortune Most Powerful Women International Summit in Riyadh. 'Without that changing, you won't get to the stage of scale the company and then IPO.'
Zawya
22-05-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Dubai's Tarjama secures $15mln to accelerate Arabic.AI rollout
Dubai-based Arabic language technology firm Tarjama has raised $15 million as it looks to accelerate the rollout of its platform that can help optimise and automate business processes. The Series A funding round was led by MENA's venture capital firm Global Ventures and participated by Wamda Capital, TA Ventures, Phaze Ventures, Golden Gate Ventures and Endeavor Catalyst. The fresh capital will go towards enhancing Tarjama's agentic ecosystem. The platform is designed to help organisations deal with complex processes through artificial intelligence agents tailored for the Arabic language or the region's unique needs. Part of the plan is to double the company's research and engineering teams and launch an AI academy that will provide training to business and government leaders on advanced AI deployment. The company has a presence in more than 30 markets worldwide. Its platform processes more than two billion words in over 50 languages and 22 Arabic dialects. Over the last three years, Tarjama's revenues posted a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20%. (Writing by Cleofe Maceda; editing by Seban Scaria)
Arab News
21-05-2025
- Business
- Arab News
Saudi women lead conversation on leadership, investment and cultural power at Fortune summit
RIYADH: The influence Saudi women increasingly are having on global culture, policies, investment and innovation was in the spotlight on Wednesday during the second and final day of the Fortune Most Powerful Women International Summit in Riyadh. In an exclusive interview with Arab News, Princess Noura bint Faisal reflected on her own unexpected path to cultural leadership, the strategic value of soft power, and the expanding economic role of the creative sector in the Kingdom. 'I never thought I would be in the creative world,' she said. 'But when I moved back to Saudi after Vision 2030 launched, I saw an opportunity to build something meaningful.' Her journey since then has included the launch of Saudi Fashion Week in 2018 and helping to establish the Fashion Commission at the Ministry of Culture. 'We created infrastructure that didn't exist: new jobs, policies and real career paths for people with creative talent,' Princess Noura said. Princess Noura emphasized the important need to integrate culture across all industries, from retail and the food and beverage sector to sports and corporate strategy: 'Culture isn't a fixed definition. It's how you express your identity and it can absolutely be monetized if it's supported by the right business model.' The concluding day of the summit featured a strong focus on entrepreneurship, economic diversification and sectoral transformation. Noor Sweid, founder and managing partner of Global Ventures, offered insights into her company's regional approach to tech investment. Rather than sticking to fixed sectors, she said it backs sectors that have long been 'underbuilt,' including financial technology in 2018, healthcare in 2020 and, more recently, manufacturing. One standout example of this approach, she said, is a company that digitizes spare-part inventories for oil and gas businesses using 3D printing, thereby resolving supply-chain gaps and sustainability challenges in real time. Her comments were complemented by insights from Aidan Madigan-Curtis, general partner at Eclipse Ventures, who discussed the ways in which geopolitical shocks and climate pressures are forcing venture capitalists to refocus on industrial technology. 'VCs like to say they're long-term but they're also deeply cyclical,' she noted, arguing that the future lies in reinventing the ways in which the world makes, moves and powers things, taking into account developments such as automation and advanced manufacturing. Cultural transformation through sport was a major theme during a panel moderated by Lama Alhamawi of Arab News, titled 'New Heights.' Adwa Al-Arifi, the Saudi assistant minister for sports affairs, said that since the launch of Vision 2030 in 2016, physical activity among Saudis has increased from just 13 percent to more than 50 percent. The Kingdom's National Sports Strategy focuses on mass participation, youth development and elite performance, three pillars that have already led to the achievement of some historic milestones in women's sports, such as the qualification of taekwondo athlete Dunya Abutaleb for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Several women shared their personal journeys in sports. Zamzam Al-Hammadi, who competes in the mixed martial arts Professional Fighters League, credited her mother for inspiring her career. Boxing expert Rasha Al-Khamis told how early support from her father gave her the confidence to pursue combat sports. Mashael Al-Obaidan said Saudi Arabia's desert culture sparked her love of motorsports. Aalia Al-Rasheed, head of women's football at the Saudi Arabian Football Federation, spoke about the explosive growth in grassroots programs for the sport and revealed that more than 70,000 girls now play in school leagues. Other sessions explored the economic and creative value of the fashion industry. During one on-stage discussion, Princess Noura reflected on what she considered one of the most notable outcomes of recent reforms in the country, the formal recognition of creative professionals. 'Before Vision 2030, designers weren't even able to register their own commercial licenses,' she said. 'There was no such thing as a fashion business. Today, designers can register as fashion professionals, operate legally and access support structures that didn't exist before.' This shift is emblematic of Saudi Arabia's broader cultural transformation, in which creativity is no longer only a passion but also a viable and valued career path, she added. The day's sessions together highlighted the expanding leadership roles of Saudi women across diverse sectors and the determination of authorities in the Kingdom to turn strategic pillars such as culture, investment, sport and technology into economic engines.
