INFOGRAPHIC: Startup Funding in Africa and the Middle East—Week 25, 2025
Here are the venture funding activities we tracked in the Middle East and African region this week – including Coralogix, Wetility, OCTA, SaturnX, Open Access Energy, Prop-AI, Darwinz AI, Hizo, and Winich Farms.
From clean energy to fintech and AI, tech startups across Africa and the Middle East are pulling in major cash and fast. In just the past few weeks, more than a dozen companies have closed deals aimed at tackling some of the region’s most pressing problems, from unreliable power grids to clunky payment systems. Here's a look at the most recent fundraising moves and what they tell us about where innovation is heading.
In Israel, Coralogix, a software observability platform helping companies monitor and secure their apps, raised a massive $115 million in a Series E round, pushing its valuation past the $1 billion mark. It’s a huge leap from its previous $650 million valuation and brings its total funding to $350 million.
Down in South Africa, solar-as-a-service startup Wetility secured ZAR500 million (about $27.8 million USD) from Jaltech. Their mission? Bring solar power to over a million homes and businesses. With power cuts still a daily challenge, the timing couldn’t be better.
Meanwhile, OCTA, a UAE-based fintech streamlining SME financial operations, locked in a $20 million credit facility from the Sukna Fund for Direct Financing. It’s a big bet on helping small businesses operate more efficiently across the Gulf.
Also from the region, Octane, an Egyptian fintech startup targeting fleet operators, raised $5.2 million in a round led by Shorooq Partners, Algebra Ventures, and Elsewedy Capital Holding. They’re expanding their payments and analytics platform across Egypt and MENA, hoping to modernise a traditionally underserved logistics market.
Still in the UAE, SaturnX, a new infrastructure player focused on stablecoin payment rails, announced a $3 million seed round led by White Star Capital. The company is building the API layer that could help future-proof B2B financial systems across borders.
In South Africa again, Open Access Energy (OAE) raised $1.8 million to scale its AI-powered electricity trading platform. It’s a bold play at reshaping how decentralised power systems interact—and one that could speed up energy access in underserved areas.
Real estate is also heating up. UAE-based Prop-AI pulled in $1.5 million in pre-seed funding to bring AI into property listings and pricing. Investors include Plus VC, Plug & Play, and backers from Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, signalling cross-border interest in digital property tools.
In Riyadh, AI startup Darwinz AI bagged $325,000 in seed funding to build out its marketing productivity tools. With backing from Flat6Labs KSA and Glint Ventures, it’s now eyeing global markets.
Hizo, a Nigerian fintech startup simplifying intra-African payments, just closed a $100,000 friends and family round. It’s a modest start, but the startup has big ambitions to fix the fragmented remittance systems across the continent.
And finally, Winich Farms, another Nigerian company helping smallholder farmers access credit and markets, has raised an undisclosed pre-Series A round from Egypt’s DisrupTech Ventures. Their goal is to make farming more financially viable and less vulnerable to middlemen.
From billion-dollar software to community solar and AI for farming, these startups reflect a wave of innovation solving very real problems. And if this pace of funding is anything to go by, the region’s startup scene is just getting warmed up.
