INFOGRAPHIC: Startup Funding in Africa and the Middle East—Week 27, 2025
Here are the venture funding activities we tracked in the Middle East and African region this week – including Cato Networks, Ninja, Wave Mobile Money, QEDMA, Complete Farmer, Liquify, Flawless, and AgriCash.
It’s been a big week for tech funding across emerging markets, from Tel Aviv to Dakar, Cairo to Riyadh, venture money is flowing, and fast. Whether it’s securing global networks, modernising trade finance, or fuelling AI-powered platforms, startups in Africa and the Middle East are pulling in serious capital to scale bold ideas.
Cato Networks, a Tel Aviv-based provider of AI-powered SASE (Secure Access Service Edge) technology, raised $359 million in a Series G round, bringing its valuation to over $4.8 billion. Cato helps large enterprises secure their networks and enable remote workers to access applications securely, no matter where they are. The new funding positions the company to continue expanding its global presence amid rising demand for cloud-first security solutions.
In Saudi Arabia, Ninja, a fast-growing quick-commerce platform, raised $250 million in a round led by Riyad Capital. That bump has pushed the company’s valuation to $1.5 billion, making it one of the Kingdom’s newest tech unicorns. As e-commerce continues to surge in the region, Ninja’s on-demand delivery model has found serious traction among urban consumers.
Over in Senegal, Wave Mobile Money, the fintech startup redefining how people send, receive, and manage money, secured about $137 million (€117 million) in debt financing to fuel expansion. The Dakar-based company is doubling down on financial inclusion, aiming to bring low-cost digital financial services to underserved communities across Africa.
Israeli startup QEDMA, a developer of quantum noise resilience solutions, announced $26 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Glilot Capital Partners through its early growth fund, Glilot+, with participation from IBM, Korean Investment Partners, and other new and existing investors. The company is focused on unlocking real-world applications of quantum computing through advanced error correction and stability tools.
Ghana’s Complete Farmer, an end-to-end digital agricultural marketplace that connects African farmers and global industries to markets, resources, and data, has raised $2.5 million from the European Union-funded AgriFI facility. The investment will support the startup’s expansion efforts and its goal to bridge gaps in Africa’s agricultural value chain.
Meanwhile, Ghana-based Liquify is taking on one of the continent’s biggest economic hurdles: the $120 billion trade finance gap. The startup just raised $1.5 million in seed equity, alongside additional debt, to help small and mid-sized African businesses access faster, smarter trade financing tools. The round was oversubscribed, showing strong investor confidence in Liquify’s mission and model.
Two early-stage companies also made headlines. Flawless, a Saudi digital platform offering AI-powered career guidance, secured $1.5 million in pre-seed funding from regional angel investors. The funds will go toward scaling the platform’s tech and growing the team.
And in Egypt, AgriCash, an agri-fintech focused on boosting access to financial tools for farmers and agricultural businesses, announced a seed funding round led by Alex Angels, with support from strategic investors. While the total raised wasn’t disclosed, the round marks a crucial step in the startup’s plans to expand across Egypt and beyond.
