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Salam, fintech friends!
The summer is typically the region’s slowest season, but the air is different this time around. From funding rounds and partnerships to licensing, the news kept sweeping through the heat. I sense an eventful Q4 in the making.
The headline from the last few weeks has to be Coinbase establishing its international tokenization hub in Abu Dhabi, receiving Financial Services Permission from ADGM's FSRA to arrange deals and provide custody for tokenized securities.
Coinbase plans to register and issue digital securities directly in ADGM, each token fully backed by underlying shares (dividends, voting rights and all). The exchange called it its most significant step yet toward on-chain capital markets.
On the funding front, Saudi’s MOZN secured a strategic investment from HUMAIN; Bundle raised $5.5 million in pre-seed funding and Epic Markets closed a $10 million pre-seed.
And last but certainly not least, it’s also Q2 earnings reporting season: Tamara's net profit doubled year-on-year, Valu's income rose 43%, Rasan's profit jumped 116%, while tabby's Saudi subsidiary reported a 54% drop.
Read on for more!
- Maria
The Rundown
💸 Fundraises & Exits
Bahrain’s Soor secured a undisclosed amount of pre-seed investment from Spring
India’s Mintoak acquired the UAE’s ICC Loyalty at an undisclosed value
Saudi’s MOZN secured a strategic investment from HUMAIN and a partnership to co-build AI solutions for financial institutions and public sector organizations
Soter Insure completed the first close of its Series B round led by Galaxy Digital
Bundle, a UAE-based web3 rewards platform, raised $5.5 million in pre-seed funding led by Ethereal Ventures and Further Ventures
Epic Markets, a UAE-based multi-asset brokerage platform, raised $10 million in pre-seed funding from Karatage
Qatar’s GRO Solutions, a personal finance platform, raised an undisclosed amount of pre-seed funding from GrowthX Capital
Egypt’s Fincart raised $2.8 million in seed funding co-led by Launch Africa and Antler MENAP.
🚀 Partnerships and Product Launches
Botim and Mastercard partnered to introduce Mastercard One Credential: a card allowing eligible cardholders switch between prepaid balances and credit funding through a single digital interface
Tether partnered with FirstData and BKN301 to accelerate tokenization of institutional-grade real estate assets in Saudi
Mastercard integrated its payment orchestration platform with Azm Fintech’s Edaat platform to expand merchant access to Saudi’s digital payment ecosystem
du Pay launched Flexi Cash Loan, a digital lending product offering eligible customers up to AED 5,000 in short-term credit
Mawarid Finance and KamelPay partnered to launch AbsoluteCard: a new corporate payment solution for businesses in the UAE
Emirates Airlines introduced Crypto.com Pay as a payment option for eligible UAE residents booking flights.
🏛️ Policy & Regulation
Coinbase received a Financial Services Permission from the Abu Dhabi Global Market’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority to build its international tokenization hub in Abu Dhabi
Flowdesk and ARP Digital received a Broker-Dealer license from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA)
Oman’s Tax Authority mandated electronic tax invoices for all VAT-registered companies
Egypt’s Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) approved 2 projects under its FRA-Sandbox, including GIG Egypt’s remote inspection and damage assessment solution for motor insurance and Lumin Soft’s digital identity verification system
OORI, a KSA-based private markets investment platform, received its Arranging and Advising activities license from the Saudi Capital Markets Authority
Oman’s Financial Services Authority (FSA) introduced 11 new categories of collective investment fund under its Executive Regulations of the Securities Law
Edenred UAE, a payroll service provider, received the UAE Central Bank’s in-principle approval for a Stored Values Facility license
Egypt’s FRA licensed 4 companies: Al Ahly Healthcare Services with a TPA license; the Egyptian Services and Collection Company for debt collection registration; Prime Securities Brokerage for government securities trading and Arabeya Online Brokerage for the trading of Global Depository Receipts.
The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) updated its Prescribed Company Regulations
AX Coin received Shari’a certification for its AXBHD stablecoin
The UAE’s Capital Market Authority removed 15 fees for licensed companies and individuals across its capital markets
The Oman Tax Authority accredited Defmacro Software SPC as an e-invoicing service provider
KamelPay received the UAE Central Bank’s Stored Value Facilities and Retail Payment Services licenses
Flipster, a UAE-based crypto trading platform, received a full operational Exchange license from VARA
Libya’s Central Bank partnered with the People’s Bank of China to facilitate the participation of Libyan banks in China’s cross-border interbank payment system
SME spend management platform, Pemo, received in-principle approval for a Stored Value Facilities license from the UAE Central Bank
Allianz Egypt and EG Insurtech were granted preliminary approval to join Egypt’s Financial Regulatory Authority’s regulatory sandbox
Yalla Group’s Yalla Financial Solutions received the UAE Central Bank’s in-principle approval for a Retail Payment Services Category II License
Checkout.com received in-principle approval from the UAE Central Bank for a Stored Value Facilities license
Mala’a Information Technology received a payment services license from the Saudi Central Bank
Oman’s FSA adopted the Executive Regulation of the Securities Law.
🗂️ Other News
stc pay Bahrain introduced Secure Approve: an in-app authentication feature for card transactions
Bitget launched Project Archimedes: a $300 million institutional capital program to support quantitative trading firms, asset managers and market makers in MENA
Moove, Nigeria-based mobility platform, raised $250 million led by Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company
Colombia-HQ payments infrastructure platform, Yuno, raised $45 million in Seires B funding from Rasmal Ventures (Qatar), GrowthX Capital (Qatar), Further Ventures (UAE) and other global investors
Tamara, Saudi-based BNPL, reported its Q2 2026 net profit doubled year-on-year
Valu, Egypt-based consumer finance platform, reported a 43% increase in net income in Q2 2026
Rasan, Saudi-based insurtech, reported a 116% increase in net profit for Q2 2026
The UAE Ministry of Finance integrated the Aani instant payment platform and Jaywan domestic card scheme into its collection channels for federal service fees and fines
tabby’s Saudi subsidiary reported a 54% drop in second-quarter net profits
Tamara, received an A- credit rating from the SIMAH Rating Agency
Emirates NBD Egypt agreed to acquire the retail banking business of HSBC Egypt
eVoost AI, a UAE-based proptech startup, expanded into Romania
Brookfield Middle East Partners completed the first close of its MENA-focused private equity fund at $2 billion, anchored by the Saudi Public Investment Fund.
Fun Stuff
🤓 Trivia of the week
Which financial centre issued one of the world's first regulatory frameworks for virtual assets?
(Answer at the bottom of the issue.)
Editor’s Picks
That’s the last 2 weeks of fintech news from around the Middle East and North Africa for you.
Until next time, salam ✌🏼
1 Trivia Answer: Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), in 2018. Its Financial Services Regulatory Authority introduced a comprehensive virtual asset framework years before most major jurisdictions had one. An early bet that's aging well, as this week's Coinbase news shows.
