Sindhu Hariharan

With the objective to become "the world's go-to solution for traffic acquisition," entrepreneur Moustafa Mahmoud founded Cognitev, a tech startup working on artificial intelligence (AI)- powered marketing tools.

With the funds, the startup aims to focus its efforts on refining their services in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, as well as on entering other markets.

The fintech enterprise that helps financial institutions digitize their operations, has raised US$1 million.

Accelerators are playing an increasingly critical role in building and nurturing entrepreneurial communities around the world, including emerging economies.

The Executive Director and Chair of the Executive Council at Skyline University College on spearheading the institution's next leg of growth.

Founded in 2013, the ServiceMarket portal helps residents compare quotes and book over 35 different home services online.

The startup aims to utilize the funding proceeds to expand Mawdoo3's library of Arabic content.

In its endeavor to revolutionize the social media marketing industry, the startup has raised US$1.1 million in a pre-Series A round

The Luxury Closet is a Dubai-based luxury e-commerce portal that specially focuses on the pre-owned segment.

The investment comes from major regional and global VC firms including Shorooq Investments, Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP), 500 Startups, Dubai-based Women's Angel Investor Network, Hala Ventures from Saudi, and Saned Partners from Lebanon.

Despite its name, most people would agree that social media is anti-social at its best- that's what the entrepreneurs behind technology startup Calio refer to as the "social paradox."

The startup aims to utilize the funding proceeds to further build on their accomplishments, and is looking at making focused investments in the areas of product research, operations management, and talent.

Aqeed was built to accelerate the digital transformation of the conventional insurance sector in the region, and align it with global trends.

WakeCap believes that labor is the largest (and also the least understood) component in the construction world, and the enterprise aims to connect and streamline tools, equipment, and workers at the job site.

Existing investors Tenmou, Pinnacle, and 500 Startups also took part in this round, and with this, the total funds raised by Eat are now at US$3.4 million.

At a time when the retail sector is under huge pressure to make use of artificial intelligence (AI) in its offerings, Rashad's BulkWhiz is a bulk grocery e-commerce platform in the Middle East, powered by homegrown AI.

The investment came from KSA-based Saudi Technology Ventures (STV), a $500 million VC fund anchored by Saudi Telecom, as lead investors, with the participation of UAE-based early-stage funding platform, VentureSouq.

This is the second investment round for Syarah, founded in 2015 by Saudi Arabian entrepreneurs Salah Sharef and Fayez Alanazi, with the company closing a seed round of $600,000 from BECO Capital and Raed Ventures in 2016.

Pawame has its operations in Kenya, and is an off-grid home solar company that aims "to electrify the 150 million households in sub-Saharan Africa."

Dubai-based Twistar is developing a smart customer feedback device to really understand their customers.

The best ideas hit you at the most unlikely of places- that's how the trope goes, and that's exactly how Kuwaiti entrepreneur Mohammad Almunaikh describes the genesis of his startup, Ghinwa.

The investment has brought with it a new look and added capabilities for the enterprise, and will help move Hopscotch's offerings to a digital platform.

Haddad has been instrumental in recognizing the importance of large-scale, eye-catching campaigns to be able to achieve such visibility as a startup, and clearly, the power of social connections on Facebook seems to have been AppMahal's trump card.

Haider Ali Khan, CEO of properties portal Bayut.com, believes that his enterprise can be considered as a "driver of change" in its sector- and that's a statement you probably won't argue with once you hear its growth story.

Across her business journey, there's one strategy that Al Barami has always held strong- that of never underestimating the power of technology.

MAGNiTT founder and CEO Philip Bahoshy on the company's recent fundraising round, led by 500Startups, with investors Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP), KISP Ventures, Financial Horizon Group, and iNet.

The company is driven by the sole premise that people are the driving force of any successful organization and investing in their capabilities should come first- even before product development.

THE LIST brings curated luxury products from global boutiques to the Middle East- thus enabling customers to shop straight from the streets of Paris, London, Milan, New York, Moscow or Tokyo.

As someone who rarely invests in startups that "have been shopped around," Shehada prefers playing the waiting game on his potential investees, but once having invested, he plays an active role in the startup's growth.

If you've ever been in an elevator, you'd be familiar with the feeling of awkwardness that seems to pervade over everyone in that enclosed space for those few minutes that make a lift ride.