Multimillion Dirham deals announced at STEP Conference 2020

10X Industry

Mita Srinivasan
10X Industry
Published:

Multimillion Dirham deals announced at STEP Conference 2020

Two-day event drew 7000 visitors with a total of 300 international and local exhibitors from 24 countries and 200 speakers taking part in the event.

Held for the 9th year under the theme of “the World in Dubai”, STEP Conference, a leading technology festival for emerging markets, just concluded with over AED 600 million worth of funding deals announced between companies and regional startups. The two-day event drew 7000 visitors with a total of 300 international and local exhibitors from 24 countries and 200 speakers taking part in the event.

Some of the key deals announced at the conference include:

  • Vezeeta, Middle East and Africa’s leading digital healthcare platform secured US$ 40 Million in its Series D round led by Gulf Capital, the Middle East’s largest and most active alternative asset management firm. The round had strong support from existing investor, Saudi Technology Ventures (STV), who led Vezeeta’s Series C round in September 2018.

  • Okadoc, an instant doctor appointment booking platform, closed its $10 million Series A round, following a $2.3 million seed round in 2018. The latest fundraising round is the largest heathtech Series A in MENA so far.

  • EAT app, a Dubai-based online restaurant reservation platform used throughout the Middle East, has raised a $5 million Series B round of funding led by 500 Startups and Derayah VC. This brings EAT’s total amount of money raised to $9.2 million.

Other highlights from the conference included:

  • New investment platform Nuwa Capital was launched by managing partner Khaled Talhouni and is targeting up to USD$ 100 million in commitments in emerging markets, primarily covering the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) including KSA and UAE, East Africa, Pakistan and Turkey

  • Shorages, a simple e-commerce storage and fulfillment services for small and media companies, won the Volkswagen Mobility Challenge.

  • Wamda, the Middle East's startup ecosystem enabler, launched its 'The state of the pre-seed startups in MENA' report in collaboration with STEP Conference at the event on 11 February 2020.

  • Dubai Chamber Market Access program took place on sidelines of STEP where corporates such as EmiratesNBD and Mediclinic amongst others were matched with startups.

  • Khadoum, an app that enables users to unlock a set of missions presented in the form of volunteer ideas and community challenges, won the STEP pitch competition

  • Amna Al Qubaisi, the first female Emirati racing driver joined STEP Show.

STEP Conference had a record-breaking 300 startups from all over the world showcasing their businesses, reflecting the innovation, growth and investment in technology and disruption across the emerging markets and reinforces Dubai’s status as the top destination for entrepreneurs to build and grow their businesses.