Funding activity in the Gulf region during the first week of June was marked by two major deals by Saudi Arabian startups. It includes fundraising by an automotive aftersales marketplace startup called Autobia.
Besides, UAE-based fintech player Network International signed a $2.76 billion acquisition deal with Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management.
In another deal, Saudi Arabia’s wholesale fresh flower distributor got acquired by UAE’s business-to-business flower marketplace Floranow for an undisclosed amount. The deal is expected to synergise Floranow’s supplies in the region.
Meanwhile, data by Wamda suggests that venture funding activity in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) revived in May, with deals worth $445 million spread across 39 transactions, compared to $7 million raised across 11 deals reported in the preceding month.
Autobia, a Saudi Arabia-based online marketplace for automotive aftersales and spare parts, secured a $2.5 million seed funding, led by Sadu Capital, to scale operations.
The other seed investors include Wa’ed Ventures, Raz Holding, Techstars, and a group of angel investors.
Founded in 2021 by Emad Daghreri and Ahmed Alawfi, Autobia is a business-to-business platform for retailers and maintenance shops to order wholesale spare parts through its app. The funding is aimed to fuel Autobia’s expansion in Saudi Arabia, add new segments in the aftersales industry, acquire talent, and develop technology.
With a view to expand in the Middle East and North African market, Brookfield Asset Management has entered into an agreement to acquire UAE’s tech enabled payments provider Network International.
Network International offers card and processing, fraud, loyalty, and bill payment solutions across 50 markets in the Mena region. The deal comes a year after Brookfield bought a 60% stake in the payments business of First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) - Magnati.
Brookfield has $5 billion in assets under management in the Middle East. The deal, according to the company, would be financed by a combination of equity investment, as part of which Brookfield Business Partners expects to invest up to about $150 million.
The balance will be funded by Brookfield institutional partners, and equity funding from First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), subsidiaries of Mubadala Investment Company, ADQ Developmental Holding and Hana Investment Company.
