Participated · Seed · Sep 2024

Founded in 2019, Sloneek offers an AI-powered HR platform centered on Sloneek Intelligence, an HR agent that automates routine tasks and provides a unified view of workforce data. The company integrated generative AI natively into its product in 2023, which accelerated customer adoption and international expansion. Sloneek’s platform enables organizations to manage employee data, workforce planning, talent management, and analytics within a secure environment for sensitive HR information. It serves more than 500 enterprise customers across 25 countries and manages HR processes for approximately 50,000 employees, with an annual recurring revenue of €2.5 million. Sloneek plans to expand into the UK and Poland, build local go-to-market teams, and deepen integrations across recruitment-to-payroll workflows as it pursues its vision of an agentic HR platform controllable by chat or voice.

Participated · Series B · Oct 2022

VUZ builds and distributes immersive, 360-degree video experiences for live events and creator content, viewable on mobile apps, the web, VR headsets like Apple Vision Pro and Oculus, and smart TVs. The company has signed exclusive immersive streaming deals with La Liga and the Professional Fighters League and works with over 100 content creators whose combined audience reach tops 100 million. VUZ has crossed 15 million users globally (up from 10 million in 2022) and now logs nearly 3 billion screen views (up from 1 billion); it says it doubled revenue over the past two years and posted an 80% increase in gross profit last year. The startup reached profitability in 2023 and shifted its content mix from roughly 70% free to about 60% free and 40% premium, monetized via annual subscriptions and telecom bundles. Its creator-focused operating model trains and equips freelance reporters and creators with proprietary cameras and supports them via an internal VUZ Studio to reduce production costs and speed editing. VUZ plans to double down in Saudi Arabia and the UAE while accelerating expansion into Africa, Asia, and the U.S.; it has over 40 telecom partnerships, offices in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, Jordan, and the U.S., is building teams in India and Indonesia, and is live in Egypt, Kenya, and Nigeria with a South Africa launch planned later this year. VUZ is a platform that offers premium immersive content—more than 20,000 hours—covering entertainment, creators, sports and XR/VR/AR experiences accessible via iOS, Android, headsets and web. The app provides 360-degree live streams including live events, concerts, celebrity interviews and masterclasses; about 70% of content is free (monetized with ads) while exclusive content is sold for $4–$8. Founder and CEO Khaled Zaatarah says VUZ has reached over 10 million users and more than 1 billion screen views since launch, with 44% of views from the Middle East, 32% from the U.S. and 24% from Egypt. The company reports roughly 10% month-on-month recurring revenue growth and top creators have generated over 100 million views globally. VUZ plans to expand internationally (including scaling its Los Angeles office), invest in content and senior hires, add new social features, launch web3 products and NFT projects, and scale into eight new markets using asset-light operations. Partnerships and integration with 45 telecom operators are cited as a backbone for its global expansion. 360VUZ operates a live-stream 360° VR video app that connects users across more than 15 countries. Led by founder and CEO Khaled Zaatarah, the company offers immersive video experiences and holds a U.S. patent related to augmented reality, artificial intelligence, machine learning, virtual control and new advertising solutions. The company plans to use new funds to further develop its immersive video app technology, scale the business, expand its global reach, and deliver more personalized experiences along with additional proprietary technologies. 360VUZ has offices in Dubai, Los Angeles and Riyadh and employs a team of more than 30 people. Financially, the Series A increases the company’s total amount raised to $7M to date.

Participated · Series A · Feb 2018

Tamatem publishes and localizes mobile games to make them culturally relevant for Arabic-speaking users, adapting titles rather than merely translating them. The company has released more than 50 games since 2013, including VIP Baloot, VIP Jalsat, Fashion Queen and Clash of Empire. Tamatem's portfolio has amassed over 120 million downloads and its top games attract about 3.5 million daily active users. The startup has 75 employees and plans to double its headcount in the next six months, with hires planned in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere. It has opened offices in Saudi Arabia and Egypt and reports employees across the U.S., India, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Hungary and Jordan. Tamatem also plans to launch a gaming academy to train talent and support growth in the regional games industry. Tamatem is a mobile games publisher focused on the Arabic-speaking market in MENA. The company localizes and publishes mobile titles for underserved regional audiences and plans to invest further in marketing for existing titles, including offline events. It recently raised $3.5M in additional funding as an extension of its earlier Series A. Tamatem said it will open an office in Riyadh and launch multiple new titles in 2020. The startup plans to expand beyond Arabic-speaking markets to other emerging and underserved markets worldwide. Founded in Jordan, Tamatem also plans to train and employ more young Jordanians and refugees through workshops targeting over 150 university graduates in 2020. Tamatem creates localised versions of popular mobile games so titles resonate with users in Arabic-speaking countries, adapting text, story elements, graphics and soundtracks. The startup focuses on partnering with international game developers to bring culturally relevant games to the MENA market. It plans to use new capital to close more developer deals and to expand headcount to attract regional talent. Tamatem positions its product against a large market gap: Arabic is the fourth most spoken language while less than 1% of app-store games are available in Arabic. Its localisation of the racing/drifting game Shake the Metal garnered 5 million downloads, cited as evidence of traction. The company was previously backed by 500 Startups and completed an earlier seed round.