VentureSouq

Our Co-Founder & General Partner, Sonia Gokhale, joined the panel "Women Aren't Bad Investors. Maybe Investing Is Bad at Women" at Money20/20 in Riyadh. The conversation went beyond products and performance to ask what really turns savers into investors: trust, community and belonging. Thank you to Money20/20 Middle East for hosting, to Afua Hagan for moderating, and to fellow panelists Wafa Al Obaidat (PLAYBOOK) and Jessica LiuJessica Liu 劉于嘉劉于嘉 (Planto)for a candid and interesting discussion. #Money2020ME #WomenInFinance #Fintech #VentureCapital #VentureSouq

The GCC has a $250 billion SME credit gap. Today we signed a partnership to start closing it. I'm delighted to announce that Local has partnered with Orbii to bring SME financing to the merchants on our platform. Here's the problem. SMEs in MENA receive just 8% of total bank credit, against 22% in high-income economies. In the UAE, SMEs are over 95% of registered businesses and contribute more than 64% of non-oil GDP. Yet the businesses hit hardest by the credit gap, restaurants, hotels, clinics, are exactly the ones with strong daily revenues and none of the collateral or audited financials banks underwrite on. What they do have is revenue. And Local sees it in real time. Local is an industry-agnostic QR payments platform: customers pay instantly, and merchants get verified data on every transaction. Daily settlement volumes, ticket sizes, trend lines. That's a richer credit signal than any six-month-old financial statement. Orbii's AI lending infrastructure, live across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Jordan with over $350M processed in 2025, turns that signal into underwriting decisions. Our merchants can now access financing built from their actual trading performance, inside the platform they already use to get paid. We're starting with F&B, a $62 billion GCC market heading to $122 billion by 2031. But the prize is bigger: a $280 billion point-of-sale payments market across the region, and an embedded finance opportunity projected to grow from $11.2 billion in 2024 to $37.7 billion by 2029. Payments platforms that own verified merchant data become the natural distribution channel for SME credit. That's the position Local now occupies. Thank you Nauman Ali and the Orbii team. Let's get to work. To our merchants: capital that grows with your revenue, not paperwork that ignores it. More soon. #fintech #payments #SMEfinance #embeddedfinance #GCC

Tabby | تابي just raised $233M at a $6.5B valuation, cementing its position as a catalyst for financial inclusion across the region. What started as a BNPL solution has evolved into something bigger. Tabby now processes over $18 billion in annualized transaction volume, proof that the MENA fintech ecosystem is maturing fast. CEO Hosam Arab captures the vision perfectly: "We began with a button at an online checkout to help people spread costs over time. Everything since, every product and every licence, has come back to the same idea: people deserve more from their money." Link for the full story 🔗: https://shorturl.at/TCoHD.

Our General Partner, Maan Eshgi, sits down with Menzie for Soil Talks at the SDR Launch Event, Gouna, for their new series 'The People Behind It'. A real conversation about what actually shaped how he leads, talking about the real turning points, the instincts that shaped everything, and the moments that actually matter. #VentureSouq #Gouna #VentureCapital

Sonia Gokhale, Co-Founder and General Partner at VentureSouq, on what makes Dubai's entrepreneurial ecosystem unique. In a new feature for Global Banking & Finance Review, Sonia shares insights on why founders and investors continue to choose Dubai, even in uncertain times. It's about building an ecosystem where companies can scale with confidence. What's driving this momentum? A combination of institutional stability, international connectivity, and a community that doesn't stop building. Read the full article 🔗: https://shorturl.at/HuJOT #Dubai #Entrepreneurship #VentureCapital #MENA

Sonia Weymuller 💥

"Capital is no longer treating this as fringe science." Proud to see our Co-Founder & General Partner Suneel Gokhale featured in Forbes Middle East on Dubai's big bet on the longevity economy. With the launch of the Dubai Longevity Authority, the emirate is treating healthy ageing not as a healthcare challenge, but as an economic sector capable of drawing capital, companies, talent, and medical tourism. As Suneel puts it, the authority signals that Dubai views longevity as a new sector with the potential to attract investment from around the world. 🔗 Full article here: https://shorturl.at/QVv2f #Longevity #VentureCapital #Dubai #VentureSouq

dubizzle Invests in Tern to Transform UAE Rent Payments Dubizzle Group has invested in UAE proptech startup Tern to introduce flexible digital rent payments and rewards, making renting more convenient for tenants. Why it matters: - Makes rent payments more flexible - Drives innovation in PropTech - Supports digital transformation in real estate 📌 Could flexible rent payments become the new normal? Unlock more startup stories and market insights with Tribe Techie Premium. Here: https://lnkd.in/dhQE5fPB #PropTech #UAE #Startups #Innovation #RealEstate #TribeTechie #Premium