Ecommerce dominates funding announcements in May
Intrro, a Dubai-based digital employee referral platform, raised Dh2 million in a pre-seed funding round to expand into international markets, including the US. The fundraising was led by 500 Startups, Spartech Ventures and strategic angel investors including Saif Kidwai, co-founder of technology recruitment consultancy, Digital Gurus.
Incubated in In5, Intrro allows founders and hiring leaders to supercharge this process by using machine learning to match candidates from an employees’ network with open roles.
Grintafy Technologies has raised $1.25 million in the Seed round investment led by Wa’ed Ventures. This investment will fund the integration of new technologies, introducing new products for scouts, clubs, and academies, expand the team and grow new markets, all in an effort to discover new talents in the world of sports.
Grintafy is a Saudi-based talent discovery platform that allows users to find, join or organize games, rate players on their performances, work their way up the rankings, as well as view and track their performance. Grintafy also has a social engine that connects players showcasing their skills from all around the globe.
Instabug raised $5M in a Series A round led by Accel. Other prominent angel investors joined including Amr Awadallah, co-founder of Cloudera, and Jim Payne, founder and CEO of MoPub.
Mobile teams big and small need better information and more visibility about how their app is doing, where it’s falling down, when it fails completely, what works, and why. Instabug provides mobile developers with Real-Time Contextual Insights throughout the entire mobile app lifecycle, with its bug and feedback reporting, secure crash reporting, and In-App Surveys.
Source Beauty, an Egyptian beauty e-commerce platform, has raised pre-seed funding from 500 Startups. With the newly raised funds, the e-commerce startup for locally sourced beauty products intends to deepen its platform capabilities, grow its team, and expand its footprint to regional markets.
With its new-to-the market business model, Source Beauty has demonstrated the viability of its business concept, through accelerated business performance.
Brimore, the social commerce and parallel distribution platform that connects manufacturers with consumers, has raised $3.5m in a pre-series A round led by Algebra Ventures, with participation from Disruptech, Vision Ventures, and returning investors, 500 Startups, and Flat6Labs. The company plans to use the new funds to support its accelerating growth and strengthen its infrastructure. It will continue to invest in operations, technology, and talent.
Brimore is the fastest-growing social commerce platform in the Middle East and Africa. The company provides small and medium manufacturers with access to nationwide distribution via a large network of individuals who sell and recruit others to sell, consumer goods within their local communities.
Telgani, the car rental platform startup based in Saudi Arabia, has closed a six-figure investment for its seed round. Investors in the round included 500 Startups, Saudi Venture Capital Company, Impact46, and a group of angel investors. The investment will help them support its recent foray into UAE and expand to address the rental market.
Telgani works as a marketplace for major car rental companies both local and international chains in more than 20 cities in Saudi Arabia, through over 300 listed service providers.
Invygo has raised $1 million USD in funding, as it looks to accelerate its expansion plans across the Middle East. This investment is part of the Pre-Series A funding round led by EQ2 ventures, Class 5 Global, and 500 Startups. The Dubai based startup and app-based car subscription service plans to use the funds to grow the business further by investing in technology and expanding into new customer segments.
Ogram, a UAE-based “human-cloud” platform, has completed a US$870,000 Pre-Series A equity round with Global Ventures. With this new investment round, Ogram will continue to scale its business in the UAE.
Ogram’s “human-cloud” platform offers on-demand temporary staffing solutions for on-site manpower, acting as a freelance marketplace connecting temporary workers to jobs in F&B, hospitality, retail, e-commerce, and logistics sectors, amongst others.
Ziina, the UAE’s first licensed social peer-to-peer (P2P) payment application, has raised a pre-seed round of US$850,000, led by San Francisco based, Class 5 Global with participation from Samih Toukan’s Jabbar Internet Group, and other prominent angel investors. Ziina allows UAE bank account holders to use their smartphones to send and receive money as easily as sending a text message without IBAN or swift code.
Munjz, Saudi Arabia’s mobile application for home services, has raised an undisclosed Pre-Series A funding round led by Vision Ventures, with participation from Seedstars and MRK Holding. Munjz is currently operating in 13 cities in Saudi Arabia and is looking to use the new funding to expand in the region, develop the team and offer broader maintenance services in the areas where it operates.
Munjz provides different kinds of home and facility services through their application through skilled and pre-scanned technicians and handymen. This can include anything from air-conditioning installation to cleaning and electrical services.
