logo
episode-header-image
Oct 18
51m 43s

VC React MENA E55: Gitex, Dubizzle’s IPO...

Ahmad Takatkah (VCpreneur)
About this episode


VC React Podcast:

Every week, we bring you insights and reactions from top VCs, LPs, & Angel Investors, reacting to the latest news on MENA startups, funds, and investment rounds.


---


Hosts:



---


Available on:


---


Guest:


1. Mustafa Nabelsi, General Partner @ 2Pi Ventures

- LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mustafanabelsi/

- Company Website: https://2pi.vc/


2. Xavier Kris, CEO of IMX Funds

- LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/xavkris/

- Company Website: https://www.imxfunds.com/


---


#startups #vc #tech #ai #investments #entrepreneurship #venturecapital #venturedebt #business #ipo #acquisitions #fintech #edtech #accelerator #web3 #crypto #blockchain #defi


---


Sponsors:

💸This week’s episode is brought to you by:


- OCTA – the AI-powered accounts receivable platform trusted by 100+ companies like Careem, Lean Technologies, and ZenHR to automate collections, resolve disputes, and unlock financing with zero hassle.

Visit: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.weareocta.com/fwdstart ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠to get your first 6 months free.


---


News of the week brought to you by FWDstart.


This Week On The VC React Podcast:


- It’s GITEX week — everyone’s in Dubai, and every booth says AI. We react to Gitex and Expand Northstar.


- But there’s even bigger news from Dubai — a second tech IPO! Dubizzle is going public at a $2 billion valuation. It’s not AI, it’s not fintech — it’s classifieds… and it’s profitable. Can profitability still excite investors when the sector is not trendy? And is this really a a win for the region, or a liquidity event for Prosus?


- Over in Bahrain and Riyadh — Investcorp just closed a $750 million fund to back growth-stage tech across the GCC and China. Why China, why now — and which industries will this fund really focus on?


- And finally, from the streets of Casablanca — Chari raises $12 million to turn corner shops into fintech hubs and launch a Banking-as-a-Service platform. But can one startup really handle logistics, payments, lending, and infrastructure? And when every B2B startup ends up with embedded finance, what happens to Fintech startups?!


---(أحمد طقاطقه)---


Up next
Oct 12
VC React MENA E54: BECO’s $370M Fund, Aydi’s $7.5M AgriTech, PIF's $55B EA Deal, Fintech Migration!
VC React Podcast:Every week, we bring you insights and reactions from top VCs, LPs, & Angel Investors, reacting to the latest news on MENA startups, funds, and investment rounds. ---Hosts: Ahmad Takatkah, VCpreneur. Sign up to VCpreneur Newsletter on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ... Show More
42m 55s
Sep 28
VC React MENA E53: Saudi lifts cap on foreign ownership, private stock market, $100M AI fund & more
VC React Podcast:Every week, we bring you insights and reactions from top VCs, LPs, & Angel Investors, reacting to the latest news on MENA startups, funds, and investment rounds. ---Hosts: Ahmad Takatkah, VCpreneur. Sign up to VCpreneur Newsletter on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ... Show More
43m 41s
Sep 21
VC React MENA E52: Money20/20, Tamara: $1.4B Debt, HALA: $157M Round, Robinhood: Public Startup Fund
VC React Podcast:Every week, we bring you insights and reactions from top VCs, LPs, & Angel Investors, reacting to the latest news on MENA startups, funds, and investment rounds. ---Hosts: Ahmad Takatkah, VCpreneur. Sign up to VCpreneur Newsletter on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ... Show More
39m 46s
Recommended Episodes
Aug 29
Ep 39. with Noor Sweid Conviction Capital: Lessons in grit, growth and globalisation
Send us a textIn this scintillating episode of Money Majlis, host Suvo Sarkar sits down with Noor Sweid, the trailblazing founder and Managing Partner of Global Ventures. Known as one of the most influential voices in Middle Eastern venture capital, Noor brings a wealth of experi ... Show More
48m 28s
Jul 2024
SearchGPT Takes on Google, Meta's AI Clones & The State of AI Investment (Reacts)
Could the launch of SearchGPT by OpenAI and Meta's AI Bots for creators redefine search engines and social media engagement? Discover how these advancements will reshape the tech landscape in this week's Reacts episode, packed with the latest AI updates. Join Ben Parr and ... Show More
50m 22s
Aug 2024
Venture returns, recovering startups, and VC conflicts | E1995
This Week in Startups is brought to you by… Coda. Coda empowers your startup by bringing words, tables, and teams together. Strategize, plan, and track goals effectively with all your valuable data in one place. Go to https://www.Coda.io/twist to get started for FREE and get 6 fr ... Show More
1h 27m
Jan 2025
Mike Maples on 100-Baggers, David Swensen & the AI Revolution | #568
Today’s guest is Mike Maples Jr. a partner at Floodgate, a pre-seed and seed-stage venture capital firm that’s invested in companies like Twitter, Lyft, Twitch, Okta. He’s also the author of Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future. In today’s episode, Mike shares h ... Show More
1h 11m
Jun 2024
SaaS Implosion? NVIDIA Eats OpenAI's Lunch, AI Doomsday Predictions, Silicon Valley Revisited (Reacts)
What's happened to B2B SaaS – and will NVIDIA eat OpenAI's lunch? Learn the latest movements in tech startups from industry insiders. In this week's episode, Chris, Emil and Yaniv discuss: B2B, Or Not To Be: Disappointing guidance from industry giants like Salesforce, ... Show More
48m 44s
Jul 2024
Five levels of AI, venture's recovery & the hottest construction startups | E1979
This Week in Startups is brought to you by… Vanta. Compliance and security shouldn't be a deal-breaker for startups to win new business. Vanta makes it easy for companies to get a SOC 2 report fast. TWiST listeners can get $1,000 off for a limited time at http://www.vanta.com ... Show More
1h 24m
Jun 2020
Investing in digital disruption: How Algebra Ventures became synonymous with tech startups (Ep 12)
Algebra Ventures Managing Partners Tarek Assaad and Karim Hussein From a background of senior positions at multinationals, Algebra Ventures Managing Partners Tarek Assaad and Karim Hussein are driven by a belief that tech and entrepreneurship can enable tangible change in a regio ... Show More
40m 46s
Jul 17
The AI-native startup: 5 products, 7-figure revenue, 100% AI-written code | Dan Shipper (co-founder/CEO of Every)
Dan Shipper is the co-founder and CEO of Every. With just 15 people, Every publishes a daily AI newsletter, ships multiple AI products, and operates a million-dollar-a-year consulting arm—all while their engineers write virtually zero code. It’s the most radical example of AI-fir ... Show More
1h 34m
Sep 29
Inside the GLP-1 Gold Rush: Eli Lilly CEO on New Breakthroughs, Addiction & Mental Health, Pricing
(0:00) Introducing Eli Lilly CEO Dave Ricks (1:43) How Eli Lilly discovered the GLP-1 impact on weight loss, counterfeit products from China (7:08) GLP-1 pricing and capital allocation after a breakout pharma product (12:56) Why Biotech VC has plummeted, “patent hacking” in China ... Show More
30m 40s
Dec 2024
Best of 2024 #3 – VC Pitch: PayPal for Agents – Skyfire Powers AI-to-AI Commerce at Scale
As we head into 2025, we're looking back on our most popular episodes of 2024. This episode was originally published on October 30, 2024. Are you ready for a world where AI agents can autonomously make purchases and monetize their services? How will commerce and payments evolve a ... Show More
1h 2m