Startups across Africa and the Middle East raised a combined $156.95 million this week, based on disclosed funding rounds tracked by Techloy, with investor capital flowing primarily into cybersecurity and e-commerce. A handful of larger Israeli deals accounted for most of the week's funding activity.
The Week's Largest Startup Funding Rounds
Here are the biggest disclosed startup funding rounds across Africa and the Middle East this week.
/1. Jazz, $61M, Cybersecurity, Israel
Jazz catches data leaks before they happen. The company watches how data moves inside enterprises and flags when sensitive information heads somewhere it shouldn't. Glilot Capital Partners and Team8 led the combined seed and Series A, announced March 10. Ten Eleven Ventures, Merlin Ventures, Encoded Ventures, and MassMutual Ventures joined. Customers already include Lemonade, AlphaSense, and CAVA. The money funds global expansion and hiring across the Tel Aviv team, founded in 2024 by Unit 81 veterans.
/2. ZyG, $58M, E-commerce/AI, Israel
ZyG automates online store operations. Product sourcing, inventory tracking, customer emails—all handled by AI. The seed round backs the Tel Aviv team building tools that let one person run what used to require five. The money funds platform development and expansion into new markets.
/3. TruDoc, $15M, Healthcare, UAE
TruDoc connects patients with doctors through video calls. Consultations happen through the app. Prescriptions get delivered. The capital expands telemedicine services across GCC markets, builds technology for faster doctor-patient matching, and scales operations beyond the UAE into Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries where virtual care adoption grew during the pandemic.
/4. Muhlah, $7.5M, Fintech, Saudi Arabia
Muhlah lends money to Saudis who can't get bank loans. Short-term financing for people locked out of traditional credit. The seed round funds new loan products and AI tools that assess risk using phone data and payment patterns instead of credit scores. Operations expand across Saudi Arabia.
/5. AgriPass, $7.5M, Agritech, Israel
AgriPass tracks food from farm to shelf. Digital records follow produce through every step—when it was picked, how it moved, where it went. Syngenta Group Ventures and Rabobank led the seed round. Retailers want proof that their food came from where suppliers claim. AgriPass provides that. The money scales the platform and adds more markets.
/6. Cybervergent, $3M, Cybersecurity, Nigeria
Cybervergent helps African companies comply with data protection laws. GDPR, POPIA, local regulations—the platform automates reporting and tracks compliance. Ventures Platform and Atlantica Ventures co-led the seed round. The funding expands operations into additional African markets and enhances AI capabilities on the platform, serving over 150 enterprise clients.
/7. Orca, $2.35M, Fintech/Fraud, South Africa
Orca stops payment fraud before transactions complete. The system analyzes patterns across African payment networks where fraud drains $2 billion annually. The seed round announced on March 9 scales protection beyond South Africa into Nigeria, Kenya, and Ghana. Machine learning models train on local fraud tactics that differ from Western patterns.
/8. NjiaPay, $2.1M, Fintech, South Africa
NjiaPay routes payments for African businesses. One integration connects to multiple payment providers. When one fails, transactions automatically switch to another. The funding connects more processors, enters new markets beyond South Africa, and builds technology that cuts processing time.
/9. ShipBee, $500K, Logistics, Qatar
ShipBee delivers packages across Qatar and the Gulf. Last-mile logistics for e-commerce and retail. The seed round adds vehicles, builds route-optimization software, and expands into the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait. More capacity, faster delivery, wider coverage.
Other startups that announced funding this week include Yazi, which raised institutional funding to expand its AI research platform on WhatsApp, although the exact amount was not disclosed.
Conclusion
With $156.95 million raised this week, Israeli tech companies pulled $126.5 million while African startups captured $30.45 million. Jazz and ZyG together represented 76% of the total capital.
Damilare Odedina
