Gate Capital News Letter | Issue 723

The Dubai-based classifieds platform Property Finder is raising $250 million in debt financing from the US-based alternative investment firm Ares Management to fund its growth in the region. The capital commitment from Ares Credit funds will be deployed through investments in product innovation, AI, marketing and branding and new partnerships.

KLIQ, the first end-to-end influencer marketing platform built in Saudi Arabia and powered by proprietary AI, has closed a $2.25 million seed investment round led by Sanabil Venture Studio (a subsidiary of Sanabil Investments) in partnership with Stryber. The investment will support KLIQ’s efforts to redefine how brands and content creators work together, with transparency, automation, and measurable outcomes at the core.

Merak Capital, a Saudi-based investment firm licensed by the Capital Market Authority, announced a SAR 100 million ($26.7 million) strategic investment in Arsann, the Kingdom’s leading operator of smart parking and mobility infrastructure.

The investment marks a major step in modernising Saudi Arabia’s urban infrastructure and optimising city mobility through data and automation, supporting Vision 2030’s goals of smarter, more sustainable cities.

Founded in 2017, Arsann operates over 270 active sites and has managed more than 10 million parked vehicles across Saudi Arabia—the largest smart-parking footprint in the Kingdom.

Goldman Sachs continued to drive dealmaking activity in the region over the first three quarters of 2025, topping the mergers and acquisition (M&A) league table in MENA with 24 deals valued at $104 billion, according to LSEG Deals Intelligence data.

The Boards of Directors of Dubai’s Emirates NBD Bank (ENBD) and India’s RBL Bank have approved entering into definitive agreements for ENBD to acquire a controlling stake in RBL Bank through a primary capital infusion of approximately US$3 billion (around INR 26,850 crore).

International Holding Company (IHC), a global investment firm, has acquired a majority stake in the state-owned First Women Bank Limited (FWBL) following Pakistan’s first-ever bank privatisation under the Inter-Governmental Commercial Transactions Act of 2022.

Saudi state-backed investor Saudi Venture Capital (SVC) is pivoting its $3bn investment mandate to allocate a larger share to private credit, aiming to support the kingdom’s evolving financing ecosystem. The fund, which primarily operates as a fund of funds, plans to dedicate half of its portfolio to private credit and equity, up from roughly a third last year, according to CEO Nabeel Koshak. The remainder will continue to back venture funding initiatives. The move comes as small and medium-sized enterprises in Saudi Arabia seek alternative sources of capital amid tighter liquidity conditions and challenges accessing traditional bank financing.

Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company has completed a deal to buy a 30 per cent stake in Hong Kong-based logistics solutions provider Loscom International to boost its investments in Asia. The deal, announced in July, marks Mubadala’s first co-control investment in Asia’s industrial sector, it said in a statement on Wednesday. The total value of the deal was not disclosed.

Cado, a UAE-based corporate gifting platform, has raised US$4.5 million in a pre-seed round with participation from Sanabil 500, a German family office, and several high-net-worth and angel investors.

The company, founded by Leila Al Marashi, operates in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the US, and plans to use the funds to support expansion in Saudi Arabia and launch in New York.

TabSense, a Saudi-based AI startup, has raised $5 million in a funding round led by Jasoor Ventures to launch the first AI Agentic Point of Sale (PoS) system for multi-branch and franchise restaurants and cafés.

Founded in 2024 by Mohammad Jaber, Mohammad Khleifat, Mohamad Ababatain and Shadi Daboor, TabSense replaces traditional PoS systems with autonomous AI agents that act like digital employees, streamlining operations, optimising menus, automating back-office tasks, and generating real-time insights.

Astra Nova, a Riyadh-based AI-focused Web3 entertainment and infrastructure firm, has raised $48.3 million to expand its suite of AI-driven creator platforms and tokenised content tools globally.

The latest funding includes $41.6 million from a recent round, adding to previous investment from Outlier Ventures, family offices, and institutional investors from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain.

Electric vehicle infrastructure company EVIQ has signed a landmark agreement with Apsco, a national energy provider, to deploy fast EV charging stations across Saudi Arabia, in a move aimed at strengthening the kingdom’s electric mobility network.

ACWA Power Company said Hajar Two Electricity Company, an affiliate, has achieved financial close on the Qurayyah independent power producer (IPP) expansion project in the Eastern province of Saudi Arabia. The 10.8-billion-Saudi riyal ($2.9 billion) loan will be used to develop, build, own and operate a  3,010-megawatt (MW) combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plant, the company said in a statement to the Saudi stock exchange on Sunday.

Investcorp, a leading global alternative investment firm, has announced that its infrastructure platform, Aberdeen Investcorp Infrastructure Partners (AIIP), jointly owned by Aberdeen Investments, a global investment manager, has closed the acquisition of a significant minority equity interest and joined the partnership led by MAWREF Logistics Solutions (MAWREF) in Al Fadhili Field House for Real Estate Development Company in Saudi Arabia.

The Dubai-based Green Dome Investments (GDI) is set to fully acquire Transcorp International, a cold-chain logistics firm operating in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, for 225 million UAE dirhams ($61.3 million), as part of its expansion strategy.

The Saudi Tadawul-listed SISCO Holding owns a 31.67% equity stake in GDI. The acquisition will be financed through equity provided by GDI’s shareholders, with SISCO covering AED 75 million of the total purchase price.

Cercli, the modern platform for enterprises to hire, manage, and pay their global workforce in the age of AI, has announced a $12 million Series A round led by Germany-headquartered Picus Capital. The round also saw participation from Knollwood Investment Advisory, existing investors Y Combinator, Afore Capital, and COTU Venture.

Beeline Kazakhstan, a subsidiary of the Dubai-headquartered digital operator VEON, will acquire online classifieds firm OLX Kazakhstan for $75 million. The Nasdaq-listed VEON, which moved its headquarters to Dubai last year, said the acquisition will further enhance its digital offerings in the Central Asian country.

1001 AI, a deeptech startup headquartered between London and Dubai, has raised $9 million in a seed funding round led by CIV, General Catalyst, and Lux Capital. Additional investors include Chris Ré, Amjad Masad (Replit), Amira Sajwani (DAMAC), Khalid Bin Bader Al Saud (RAED Ventures), and Hisham Al-Falih (Lean Technologies).