The Venture Codex

Led · Series A · Apr 2026

Comfi is a startup that provides capital solutions for small and medium-sized enterprises in the MENA region. The company announced a US$65 million Pre-Series A raise to expand and scale its SME capital operations across the region. Public reporting did not disclose detailed operating metrics, prior funding history, or valuation. Comfi plans to deploy the new funding to grow its lending or capital-provision capabilities and expand its regional footprint. No additional financial details or investor names were disclosed in the articles.

Participated · Series A · Jul 2024

OTO, founded in 2019 by Mohammad AlRazaz and Furkan Uzar, is a Riyadh-based logistics technology company. Its core product is a single integrated platform that simplifies order shipping, management, tracking, returns, and analysis for merchants. OTO’s technology connects merchants with over 250 shipping companies and e-commerce platforms and lets merchants use their own shipping contracts or purchase labels at competitive rates. The company will use the $8M Series A to expand and strengthen its presence in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Turkey. It also plans to enhance its platform with new features aimed at SMBs and enterprise online merchants. The round was led by Sanabil Investments with participation from Sadu Capital, Iliad Partners, Propeller, and Soma Capital. Financially, the company raised SAR 30 million (about $8.0M) in July 2024 in a Series A. OTO is a Riyadh-based SaaS startup that provides an all-in-one shipping management platform to help brands ship, manage, track, and return online orders from a single dashboard. The platform integrates with over 100 shipping carriers and 15 sales channels and supports more than 400 registered brands shipping locally and internationally. OTO serves Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and Egypt and in 18 months became the largest integrator for shipping services in the MENA region. The company plans to use new funding to grow its customer base across the GCC and Egypt and to create new products and features. OTO also intends to continue hiring top talent globally while supporting targeted triple-digit revenue growth.

Participated · Seed · Nov 2022

Qashio provides an enterprise-grade spend management platform that issues virtual and physical employee corporate cards and delivers real-time expense tracking and centralized visibility for finance and HR teams. The company says its software automates expense workflows, reduces petty cash leakage, and saves hundreds of man-hours for customers. Qashio claims to be the first fintech in UAE history to programmatically issue employee corporate cards. Founded in 2021 by Jonathan Lau and Armin Moradi, the startup has signed brands across the UAE and KSA and won the Gulf Capital FinTech Business Solution of the Year 2022. The company has added seasoned executives and advisors to strengthen technical development and enterprise go-to-market capabilities. Qashio plans to use its recent financing to expand hiring and accelerate growth into Saudi Arabia and other parts of the GCC.

Participated · Series A · Nov 2019

TruKKer operates a digital freight network facilitating cargo movement across the MENA region and beyond. The company was founded in 2016 and is based in Abu Dhabi. TruKKer has disclosed $189 million in funding to date. Recently it secured a $300 million securitization facility from Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, described as one of the largest such facilities for a startup in the region. TruKKer said the financing will support its operational expansion and enhance its platform capabilities. The transaction was framed as a strong vote of confidence from a leading regional bank in TruKKer's business model and market position.

Participated · Series B · May 2017

Fetchr is a Dubai-based logistics startup that provides delivery and shipping services. The company was on the verge of bankruptcy and raised an emergency $10 million late last year to avoid collapse. Bloomberg documents show Fetchr has secured $15 million in fresh funding with commitments from early investor Beco Capital, Saudi-based Tamer Group, and French shipping firm CMA CGM, subject to shareholder approval. Management changes this year include the quiet appointment of former UPS executive Hussein Wehbe as CEO; interim CEO Mazen Mamlouk confirmed the round and is expected to hand control to Wehbe while staying on as an adviser. Since the emergency funding, Fetchr has cut about 1,230 jobs and exited Jordan, Bahrain, and Oman, and the new management has reduced the company’s burn rate. Fetchr builds patented mobile technology that captures customers' geo-location on their phones and uses it as a delivery address to solve the “no address” problem in emerging markets. The company operates an app-based delivery service and in August 2016 launched an on-demand offering called “NOW” for door-to-door deliveries within an hour. Fetchr is operational in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Bahrain and partners with governmental organizations such as Oman Post to extend its technology through strategic partnerships. The business emphasizes mobile-first markets where the article notes more than 80% smartphone penetration among users, and it highlights gender‑diversity initiatives including women couriers in Dubai and an all‑women call center team in Saudi Arabia. Fetchr plans to continue expanding its footprint across MENA and beyond while developing its proprietary delivery technology. Fetchr is a Dubai-based provider of a package delivery app that uses the phone as a physical address to eliminate the need for formal addresses. Its app allows drivers to arrive at a customer’s exact location via the phone, pick up packages, and deliver them to recipients. The company targets markets across the Middle East, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, India, Indonesia and other emerging markets. Fetchr was co-founded by CEO Idriss Alrifai and Joy Ajlouny. It closed an $11M Series A financing to fund its next steps. The company plans to use the proceeds to launch its mobile application on the App Store and Google Play and to accelerate product development.