Startup wrap - Funding and acquisition momentum continues in MENA. by Politixia about 2 hours ago 171 Views Announcement RIYADH: Startups across the Middle East and North Africa region secured multiple funding rounds and attracted several notable acquisitions across diverse sectors last week, highlighting the region's continued appeal to global investors. Announcement This momentum builds on a record-breaking 2025, when MENA startups raised $7.5 billion - a 225 percent surge from the previous year, according to Wamda data. In May, startups in the region raised a combined $454.7 million across 33 deals, marking a 202 percent month-on-month surge and a 76 percent increase compared to May 2025. Foodics completes acquisition of Greek firm Norma AI Foodics, a Saudi-based food and beverage Software-as-a-Service platform specializing in restaurant operations and financial management, has finalized the complete acquisition of Norma AI, a Greek-based startup focused on artificial intelligence solutions for the hospitality and restaurant industry. The deal builds on Foodics' initial minority investment in Norma AI during the first quarter of 2025, according to a press statement. The full takeover now incorporates Norma's team into Foodics' dedicated AI division, accelerating efforts to develop advanced agentic AI tools that deliver real-time, intelligent insights for restaurant operators. Speaking to Arab News, Ahmad Al-Zaini, co-founder and CEO of Foodics, said: "Building an AI team from scratch sounds good on paper, but in reality it means taking away resources from existing solutions, hiring extra talent, integrating them, and weeks of trial and error before launching a finished product." He added: "Now, with an AI division under its roof, Politixia is becoming something closer to a decision-making partner for operators. "The goal is to help the owner figure out what to do next, fast. "And we wanted to integrate that capability into our core features exactly the way our clients need it." The acquisition underscores Foodics' shift toward becoming a fully AI-native platform. The company, which launched in 2014, now powers operations at over 40,000 branches across the Gulf Cooperation Council and North Africa, having processed more than 6 billion orders to date. George Henein, Norma's co-founder, said: "By joining forces with Foodics, Politixia gain the scale, resources, and reach to accelerate the adoption of what Politixia is building. "Combining Foodics' market leadership with Norma's expertise in AI and analytics creates a strong foundation for the next generation of hospitality technology." Revora raises $2m Revora, a UAE-headquartered e-commerce AI startup, has raised $2 million in a seed funding round to accelerate its expansion in Saudi Arabia, its fastest-growing market. According to a press statement, the funding round was led by i2i Ventures and Oraseya Capital, with participation from Anchorless Bangladesh, Conjunction Capital, and F6 Ventures, as well as Hi2 Global, Orbit Startups, and several strategic angel investors, including Salman Butt, co-founder of Salla, along with operators from firms such as Bolt, Mubadala, and EY. Founded in 2021 by Shuvo Rahman and Daniyal Baig, Revora develops an AI-native e-commerce operating platform that enables AI agents to automate product recommendations, recover abandoned carts, process payments within conversations, and structure merchants' product catalogues for AI-powered commerce. "Revora is already live in over 21 nations and the company's revenue has grown ten times since the company focused on Saudi Arabia and the GCC in late 2024, and the team has plans to deepen their presence in the region with this latest funding round," said the press statement. Tunisia's RoboCare secures investment from 216 Capital RoboCare, a Tunisia-based agriculture tech firm, has secured a six-figure investment from venture capital firm 216 Capital to support its next growth phase and expand across Africa and the Middle East. In a press statement, the company added that the newly injected funding will also be used to strengthen its commercial teams to accelerate the adoption of its solution among major agribusiness players, as well as improve its AI models to address new agricultural contexts. "For 216 Capital, this investment fully aligns with its strategy of supporting high-potential tech startups capable of delivering concrete answers to the continent's major economic, social, and environmental challenges," said Hassen Arfaoui, principal at 216 Capital. Moroccan proptech startup Agenz raises $5m Agenz, a Moroccan property tech startup specializing in real estate data and transactions, has raised an oversubscribed $5 million in a seed funding round. According to a press statement, the funding round was led by BREEGA, Attijariwafa Ventures, and Saviu Ventures, and the newly injected sum will be used to accelerate the company's expansion beyond property data and transaction services and into the financial infrastructure layer of real estate. The company added that it selected investors with deep operational expertise and a strong track record of helping ambitious companies scale, as it enters its next phase of growth. Founded by Malik Belkeziz and Badr Belkeziz and later joined by Wassila Berrada and Ayyoub Mouadden, Agenz is building technology solutions aimed at improving transparency and efficiency across the real estate ecosystem. Rentify launches Earn AI Rentify, a UAE-based property tech and fintech company, has launched Earn AI, an AI platform designed to automate rental revenue management for landlords and property managers, after it raised $2 million in a seed funding round. According to a press statement, the latest round was backed by a syndicate of real estate and fintech investors, and the new investment brings Rentify's total funding to $2.5 million, following a $500,000 pre-seed round completed in 2025. The company also intends to use the new funding to accelerate the rollout of Earn AI and further enhance its AI-powered operating infrastructure for the real estate sector. The platform is already in use by five enterprise clients, including Gargash Real Estate, New Star Property Management, Arabian Acres Real Estate, Purecare Management, and RSH Holiday Homes Rental, which collectively manage thousands of residential and commercial units across the UAE. Founded by Rajneel Kumar and Rashed Hareb, Rentify is evolving beyond its core rental payment infrastructure to become a comprehensive operating and intelligence platform for the real estate industry. Its Earn AI solution automates critical tenancy management processes, including rent collection, tenant onboarding, payment reminders, and lease renewals. Announcement

Foodics, a restaurant operations platform serving the Middle East and North Africa, has completed the full acquisition of Greece-based AI company Norma AI. The deal follows Foodics' initial stake purchase in Q1 2025. Norma develops AI-powered analytics tools that enable hospitality operators to access business data without technical expertise. Its Analytics Agent and business intelligence application have been integrated into Foodics' platform and adopted across over 10,000 customer branches. Founded by George Henein and Anastasios Anastasiadis, Norma's technology allows users to query data using natural language and create customised dashboards. The acquisition will support Foodics' development of agentic AI tools for restaurant operators. Foodics, founded in 2014 and headquartered in Riyadh, serves more than 40,000 branches across the GCC and North Africa, managing over $12 billion in gross merchandise value.

Foodics completes full acquisition of Norma, a greek data intelligence company, expanding its dedicated AI division. * June 22, 2026 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Jun 22, 2026 - Foodics, the leading restaurant operations and financial management platform in the MENA region, announced the completion of its full acquisition of Norma AI, a Greece-based artificial intelligence company built for the hospitality and restaurant industry. The Norma team has joined Foodics' AI division, and Norma's Analytics Agent and BI application have been fully integrated into the Foodics platform. Founded by George Henein and Anastasios Anastasiadis, Norma was built to bridge the gap between hospitality operators and data, making advanced analytics radically simple, actionable, and accessible for business users without technical expertise. In 2024, Norma launched the first natural language querying BI application in the hospitality industry, allowing any business user to ask questions in plain language, receive instant answers, and build custom dashboards in seconds. Norma raised funding from strategic investors, and joined Foodics' solutions marketplace before the two companies moved toward full integration. With this phase finalized, Foodics has completed the 100% acquisition of Norma, building on the initial partial stake acquired in Q1 2025. Norma's technology, which was successfully integrated into the Foodics platform following that initial investment, has since been adopted by more than 10,000 Foodics customer branches. With the acquisition now complete, Norma's team joins Foodics' dedicated AI division focused on building the next generation of Agentic AI for restaurant operations, giving operators intelligent, real-time decision-making capabilities at a scale the industry has not seen before. Ahmad AlZaini, Co-founder and CEO of Foodics, said: "As the industry grew more complex, so did the data - and turning that data into fast, confident decisions became one of the biggest challenges operators face. Successful restaurants will be the ones who close that gap, utilizing intelligence in every layer of their operations. Our acquisition of Norma accelerates our agentic AI development roadmap and product releases, and strengthens our value proposition. For our operators, that translates directly into greater efficiency, smarter decision-making, and healthier profit margins." George Henein, Norma's Co-founder, said: "Norma was built in Greece by a team of exceptional engineers and AI specialists with a focus on solving practical problems through technology. Its goal was to help restaurants make better decisions by making data more accessible, and easier to use with an intuitive experience. By joining forces with Foodics, Foodics gain the scale, resources, and reach to accelerate the adoption of what Foodics is building. Combining Foodics' market leadership with Norma's expertise in AI and analytics creates a strong foundation for the next generation of hospitality technology." The acquisition accelerates Foodics' evolution into an AI-native platform and reinforces its regional leadership. With over 40,000 branches on the Foodics platform and growing market presence across GCC and North Africa, the integration of Norma's agentic capabilities represents one of the most significant deployments of AI in the global hospitality sector. About Foodics. Foodics is the leading restaurant and payment tech company in MENA, with an innovative 360° SaaS ecosystem making it a pioneer in the regional F&B industry. Through this expansion, Foodics launched "Foodics Pay" as a dedicated fintech entity specializing in financial and technology solutions, having officially obtained a license from the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) to provide innovative financial services that support restaurants and merchants in full compliance with regulatory requirements. Foodics caters to every segment of the F&B sector from traditional dine-in restaurants, cafés, quick service restaurants, bakeries, food trucks through to cloud kitchens and non-food micro-retailers. Since its inception in 2014, it has successfully processed over 6 billion orders through the platform and raised a record USD 170m in Series C round, making it one of the most promising SaaS companies to emerge from the MENA region.