
Founded to simplify transport in the region, Careem is now building the Everything App for the Middle East - from mobility to food and grocery delivery, payments, and more. The company was acquired by Uber in 2019 for $3.1 billion.

TruKKer is a Digital Freight Network that integrates Demand & Supply for multimodal freight services. The network is built on real-time data analytics that creates reliability, transparency, and utilization-based savings for Shippers and thousands of transporters.

Mejuri is direct-to-consumer fine jewelry brand focused on "everyday luxury" designed for women to buy for themselves rather than for gifting.

Tamatem is the leading mobile games publisher in the MENA region, specializing in localizing and publishing popular international games for the Arabic-speaking market. Tamatem has published over 50 games on both iOS and Android with over 150M downloads.

POSRocket developed a cloud-based POS system designed for restaurants and retailers to manage operations, inventory, and sales in real-time. It was acquired by Foodics in 2022.

Onfleet is a last-mile delivery management software platform. It provides tools for businesses to plan, dispatch, track, and analyze their delivery operations.

Wrappup was an AI-powered, meeting-based productivity app that used intelligent voice recording to help managers, particularly in inside sales, create actionable meeting summaries. It was acquired by Voicea in 2018 and subsequently acquired by Cisco, with its technology enhancing Cisco's AI capabilities.

The Luxury Closet is an e-commerce marketplace offering pre-owned fashion items with the goal of maintaining sustainability in the fashion industry.

MUNCH:ON (previously LUNCH:ON) was a subscription-based food delivery app, providing home and office addresses with meals at a fraction of the cost. The company was acquired by Careem in 2022.

Armada is a technology logistics company connecting supply to demand in the last mile logistics industry in Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia.

GoPillar is a worldwide marketplace and crowdsourcing platform for architecture and interior design, allowing clients to launch design contests for residential or commercial renovations.

Bidvine is a local services marketplace that connects customers looking to hire local service professionals. The company was acquired by Bark in 2021.

Cognitev (formerly MENA Commerce) used the power of AI to make the internet a better place through automation of advertising and marketing.

Idinaidi was an operator of a unified real estate portal, providing clients with property listings, price data, mortgage information and professional contacts to simplify financial decisions and streamline access to comprehensive market insights.

Jamalon used to be the largest online bookstore in Middle East, offering more than 10 million of Arabic and English titles with home delivery and localized payment methods.

Boxit is an on-demand self-storage service that provides door-to-door storage solutions for individuals and businesses.

Bellgram was a conversation assistant that helped business people to be more productive by enhancing the conversation experience with the customer.

HALA offers SME banking and freelancer solutions, enabling them to start, run, and grow their businesses seamlessly.

Zid is a trusted all‑in‑one e‑commerce platform that empowers modern retail by seamlessly connecting merchant operations. Today, thousands of businesses across the Middle East and Africa rely on Zid to manage and grow their online presence.

Merit Incentives offers digital gift cards, employee engagement tools and customer loyalty solutions, with a network spanning over 5,000 brands in over 100 countries, serving more than 20 million users.

Operating a "kitchen-as-a-service" model, iKcon (now REEF) helped restaurants expand their delivery reach without high capital costs, working with 100+ brands before being acquired by US-based REEF in 2021.

Fatura connects curated wholesalers in the FMCG space with the retailers through its app. Fatura was acquired by EFG Hermes Holding’s Tanmeyah in 2022.

Swvl powers businesses and individuals with end-to-end solutions to manage, track and optimize transit and fleet operations for smoother, smarter journeys.

Citron specializes in stylish, functional and safe lunchboxes, food jars, water bottles and accessories for kids and families, sold in over 49 countries.

Khazenly is an on-demand digital warehousing and fulfillment management platform that provides an omnichannel solution to help merchants digitize their businesses.

Qoyod is an end-to-end accounting platform for SMBs that manages everything from invoicing and expenses to payroll and reporting.

Elevatus is a global leader in AI-powered recruitment solutions, driving digital transformation by automating the entire recruitment process—from creating job requisitions to onboarding top talent.

Lucky offers financial flexibility and increased spending power through its robust lending scheme, discounts and cashback rewards.

Connect Money offers a white-label card issuing platform that enables businesses to provide their customers with debit and credit cards without the need to develop fintech infrastructure or obtain regulatory licensing.

Haseel allows both individuals and businesses to buy fresh food supplies directly from farmers through Haseel’s platform and physical stores.

Klaim is a fintech dedicated to aiding healthcare SMEs by providing them with working capital to ease their cash flow burden.

Cartlow is the first App in the region to provide Pre-loved, Never Used stock products while providing warranty, easy returns and the best value. Cartlow was acquired by Basatne, a specialist in reverse logistics, in 2025.

CarSeer is a vehicle history reporting platform that assists in the assessment of used cars, and its reports are the first ever issued in the Arabic language.

Gameball is a customer intelligence and marketing CRM platform that helps consumer brands create personalised engagement with customers and monetise their customer base.

Taker is a digital ordering platform that empowers restaurants of all sizes to expand online, streamline order management and reduce reliance on third‑party aggregators by offering seamless pickup and delivery solutions

Repzo is the #1 salesforce automation solution in the MENA region with more than 200 clients and distributors in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Egypt, Qatar, Oman and others.

Clymb.ai, formerly known as Retailo (a B2B marketplace platform), focuses on AI-powered optimization tools for sales and distribution within the FMCG industry.

Classcard is an all-in-one, cloud-based management platform designed for educators, trainers and coaching academies to streamline scheduling, attendance, payments and student engagement.

FittiCoin is a wellness app that converts fitness activity, such as steps, into virtual coins that can be used for rewards.

Subsbase is a cloud‑based platform that empowers subscription and recurring‑revenue businesses with streamlined billing, collection and analytics tools to efficiently manage clients.

Crowd Analyzer is the Middle East’s leading Arabic‑focused social media monitoring platform, using advanced AI and NLP to deliver highly accurate sentiment analysis and market insights. It was acquired in 2024 by prominent Saudi tech and financial Investors.

Paymennt (previously PointCheckout) is a mobile-first payments platform allowing businesses to accept payments online, in person or through payment links.

FlexxPay platform offers a proprietary cloud solution that gives employees instant access to earned salaries and commissions, reducing financial stress and boosting productivity, retention and sales.

Inagrab is an AI-powered deal assistant that optimizes seller performance by offering recommendations about when and where to promote the products.

Shieldfy protects web applications in real-time through its smart firewall and security reporting for developers.

HALA offers SME banking and freelancer solutions, enabling them to start, run, and grow their businesses seamlessly.

Nearpay specialises in offering an innovative payments infrastructure, with a particular focus on POS and SoftPOS technology.

Money Fellows digitises traditional savings circles (ROSCA) to provide users across Africa with accessible tools for saving, borrowing and investing.

Sylus AI (formerly Hulexo) is an AI-powered data analyst platform designed to bypass complex traditional BI tools. It features natural language querying, automated dashboard generation in seconds, and seamless integrations with CRMs, ERPs, and ad platforms without requiring SQL knowledge.

Yasmina is the first embedded insurance platform in Saudi Arabia, enabling digital businesses to offer personalized insurance at checkout with just a single line of code.

Yozo.ai is building an AI-native revenue engine that automates e-commerce growth and retention marketing for e-commerce merchants.

Yamm is committed simplifying returns, refunds and exchanges for e-commerce merchants.
Hasan founded Arzan VC, the predecessor of NBT Holdings, in late 2013. Prior to Arzan VC, he had co-founded different businesses and was instrumental in building the right teams to manage the growth prospects of each company. He used to work with Global Investment House in their PE Department for transaction and due diligence team. He then co-founded Edge Foods and led its operations for 3 years. He currently sits on the boards of Al Amanah Holding and BBK Geojit Securities. Hasan earned his MBA from INSEAD and his bachelor’s degree from Purdue University.
Asia joined Arzan VC, the predecessor of NBT Holdings, in 2020 and prior to that she used to work at KPMG Kuwait advising the Kuwait National Fund (KNF) for small & medium enterprise development and handled funding. While at KPMG, Asia was instrumental in monitoring KNF’s 200+ projects and supervised the pre-operational phase team. She graduated from Kuwait University with distinction and class honors, having been honored by the Ruler & Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad A-Jaber Al-Sabah. Asia is a CFA Charter-holder and passed all the levels on the first attempts.
Dominika joined Arzan VC, the predecessor of NBT Holdings, in 2020, bringing with her 10 years of communication experience. She used to work for the American University of Kuwait under the Dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Before Kuwait, she had spent 6 years working for a PR & media agency Marcopolis (France), during which she headed specific projects in South Africa, Nigeria and Ghana. Dominika is also the creator of TL;DL VC, a newsletter for everyone who doesn’t have time to listen to VC podcasts. She also regularly writes about venture capital and startups in general. She holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhDr.) degree in International Relations and European Studies from Metropolitan University Prague and is FMVA certified.
Careem
Trukker
Mejuri
Tamatem
POSRocket
Onfleet
WrappUp
The Luxury Closet
MUNCH:ON
Armada Delivery
GoPillar
Bidvine
Cognitev
Idinaidi
Jamalon
Boxit
Bellgram
Hala
Zid
Merit Incentives
Reef
Fatura
Swvl
Citron
Khazenly
Qoyod
Elevatus
Lucky
Connect Money
Haseel
Klaim
Cartlow
CarSeer
Gameball
Taker
Repzo
Clymb.ai
Classcard
FittiCoin
Subsbase
Crowd Analyzer
Paymennt
FlexxPay
Dalooni
Shieldfy
Hala
Nearpay
Money Fellows
Sylus AI (formerly Hulexo)
Yasmina
Yozo
Yamm




Wealth begins with a seed. Thamra offers MENA retail investors the simplest way to access institutional-grade opportunities, starting with yielding investments like real estate.

Revenya delivers tech‑enabled, short‑tenor micro‑finance to underserved SMBs across MENA, combining platform partnerships with high‑yield lending economics.
Hasan founded Arzan VC, the predecessor of NBT Holdings, in late 2013. Prior to Arzan VC, he had co-founded different businesses and was instrumental in building the right teams to manage the growth prospects of each company. He used to work with Global Investment House in their PE Department for transaction and due diligence team. He then co-founded Edge Foods and led its operations for 3 years. He currently sits on the boards of Al Amanah Holding and BBK Geojit Securities. Hasan earned his MBA from INSEAD and his bachelor’s degree from Purdue University.
Alberto is an engineering leader with experience delivering high-quality software and leading teams across multiple countries. He focuses on building high-performing teams, fostering a growth mindset, and driving continuous improvement in complex, multicultural environments. Alberto is known for a solution-oriented, data-driven approach, combining leadership, communication, and stakeholder management to deliver impactful, scalable products. Since 2017, he’s also taught Agile methodologies and Project Management at the Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto, helping develop the next generation of engineers.
Beatriz is a Product Manager with a background in project management. She owns the full product lifecycle - from regulatory compliance and requirements through design, UAT, and launch - working with a distributed engineering team to turn complex financial and legal constraints into something investors can actually use. Beatriz is always refining how she works, not just what she ships - AI tooling has become a big part of that (docs, analysis, comms, all benefit from it). That's where she's come to understand why plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.
Rui is a Full-stack Developer focused on building end-to-end financial platforms in the fintech and proptech space. He designs and implements systems that span backend architecture, mobile applications, and cloud infrastructure — from API design and database modeling to native app development and Kubernetes deployments. More recently, his work has expanded into applied AI — building self-hosted LLM pipelines, retrieval-augmented generation systems, and AI agent orchestration to add intelligent layers on top of existing platforms. The focus is on delivering scalable, regulation-compliant products that bridge complex financial workflows with intuitive user experiences.
Felipe is a Full-stack Developer with a non-traditional path into tech. After 14 years in the Portuguese Marines Special Actions Detachment (D.A.E), he transitioned into software development, bringing discipline, resilience, and a mission-first mindset to everything he builds. Felipe is currently focused on QA and full-stack development, working across frontend and backend — from investor compliance flows and bilingual EN/AR support to real-time notifications, database migrations, and end-to-end testing. His technical stack includes Java, Spring Boot, Angular, React, TypeScript, PostgreSQL, and Docker, with a strong foundation in clean architecture and API design. Felipe is driven by problem-solving and continuous improvement — whether it's debugging a race condition, optimizing a deployment pipeline, or learning a new framework over the weekend. He believes the same qualities that kept him sharp in special operations — focus, accountability, and attention to detail — are what make the difference between software that works and software that works well.
If you’re building disruptive deep tech with real ambition and the drive to scale across MENA and beyond, we want to hear from you. Whether you’re raising capital or ready to co-create through our Venture Studio, tell us what you’re building.