Startups across Africa and the Middle East raised a combined $299.4 million this week, based on disclosed funding rounds tracked by Techloy, with investor capital flowing primarily into AI infrastructure and cybersecurity. A small cluster of large Israeli growth-stage deals accounted for the bulk of that figure, though the week also produced meaningful activity in the UAE, Kenya, and Angola.
The Week’s Largest Startup Funding Rounds
Here are the biggest disclosed startup funding rounds across Africa and the Middle East this week.
/1. ScaleOps, $130 million, AI/Cloud Infrastructure, Israel
ScaleOps, a platform that automatically manages cloud and AI computing resources for large organizations, raised $130 million in a Series C round led by Insight Partners, with existing backers Lightspeed Venture Partners, Glilot Capital Partners, NFX, and Picture Capital also participating.
The raise values the company at over $800 million and brings total funding past $210 million, including a secondary transaction that allowed employees to cash out. The capital will go toward expanding its product suite for AI infrastructure and agent management, and scaling its development teams. Customers include Adobe, Wiz, DocuSign, and several other Fortune 100 names.
/2. Qodo, $70 million, AI Software Development, Israel
Qodo, an AI platform that reviews code and helps development teams build reliable software faster, closed a $70 million Series B round led by Qumra Capital, pushing total funding to $120 million.
The round drew a broad set of investors, including Maor Ventures, Square Peg, TLV Partners, and individual backers from OpenAI and Meta. Qodo says its revenue grew tenfold over the past year, with major new contracts signed at Nvidia, Walmart, and Box. The money will go into sales expansion and continued product development out of Israel.
/3. Voltify, $30 million, Clean Energy / Rail Tech, Israel
Voltify, a startup building technology to convert diesel trains to electric ones without requiring major infrastructure overhauls, raised $30 million in a seed round led by Aleph and Fortescue. Other backers include the Menomadin fund, Jimpact, and The Dock.
Founded in 2024, the company’s system uses battery-powered trains, fast-charging technology, and a microgrid network to cut energy costs and reduce pollution in rail operations. The funding will go toward fully launching its platform later this year, covering its trains, charging systems, and energy network, as it moves to convert signed commercial interest from rail operators in the United States into live deployments.
/4. Sett, $30 million, AI Marketing / Gaming, Israel
Sett, a company building AI agent-based marketing tools for the gaming industry, raised $30 million in a Series B round led by Greenfield Partners, with F2 and Bessemer also participating, pushing total funding to $57 million. The round included Ben Feder, former CEO of Take-Two Interactive and ex-president of Tencent’s gaming division, as a strategic backer.
Its platform automates data-driven marketing content and interactive advertising for gaming studios, with customers including Zynga, Playtika, and Papaya. The capital will fund its expansion beyond gaming into fintech, consumer apps, and e-commerce before the end of 2026.
/5. Scala Biodesign, $16 million, Biotechnology, Israel
Scala Biodesign raised $16 million in a Series A led by Grove Ventures, with TLV Partners and Deep Insight also backing the round, and separately received a NIS 15 million grant (approximately $4.8 million) from the Israel Innovation Authority.
The Tel Aviv-based company builds AI-powered protein engineering software that helps pharma and biotech companies design proteins for medicines, vaccines, and industrial applications. The funding will support global expansion of ScalaOS, its production-grade protein design platform, broader commercial adoption, and growth of its engineering and scientific teams.
/6. CarniStore, $12.2 million (AED 45 million), Food Tech / E-commerce, UAE
UAE-based premium protein platform CarniStore secured a $12.2 million (AED 45 million) strategic minority investment from Emirates Growth Fund (EGF), the UAE’s flagship growth equity vehicle. Founded in Dubai in 2018 by Daniel Wanies and Fikry Boutros, CarniStore combines traditional butchery with digital retail across meat, seafood, poultry, and smoked products.
The investment, EGF’s first in the food sector, will support industrial-scale expansion, new product verticals, and regional growth outside the UAE. EGF will also work alongside the founders to strengthen governance and institutional readiness.
/7. Huskeys, $8 million, Cybersecurity, Israel
Huskeys, an Israeli cybersecurity startup, raised $8 million in seed funding to address persistent weaknesses in web application firewall management. The platform continuously audits and automatically updates firewall rules and network configurations to better separate legitimate users from harmful traffic, without requiring changes to application code. The funding will be used to grow its research and sales teams, building on early traction with customers including TikTok, Merlin Entertainments, and Hugging Face.
/8. 4G Capital, $2 million, Fintech / Microfinance, Kenya
Kenya’s 4G Capital secured a $2 million strategic investment from GIF Growth, the Global Innovation Fund’s dedicated growth-stage vehicle. The company has been lending to small businesses in Kenya and Uganda since 2013 and has put out over $800 million across 6.8 million loans to more than 755,000 clients, with $1 billion in total lending expected before the year is out. The funds secured will go toward strengthening its digital tools and reaching more entrepreneurs, especially women and young business owners who fall outside the formal banking system. The company is also weighing a Series D round.
/9. ANDA, $1.2 million, Mobility / Logistics, Angola
Angolan mobility startup ANDA secured $1.2 million from private credit impact fund BFA Asset Management (BFAAM) via its Kimbo Fund. The capital will go toward expanding and modernizing ANDA’s multi-asset fleet, including integration of electric vehicles, and scaling logistics infrastructure to serve more businesses across the country.
Founded in 2022 by Sergio Tati and Joerg Nuehrmann, ANDA runs a “drive-to-own” financing model for motorcycle taxi drivers, helping formalize one of Angola’s most visible informal sectors. The deal is notable for being backed by local Angolan institutional capital, a rarity in a market that rarely appears in African venture trackers.
Other funding announced this week includes:
- Dubai-based extended-stay platform, estaie, that closed a 7-figure pre-seed round led by PlusVC and Orbit Ventures, with plans to expand from Dubai to Riyadh.
- Mezza, a UAE hospitality platform providing restaurants with upfront capital in exchange for future food and beverage credit, also closed a seed round backed by angel investors, including the founders of PropertyFinder and Jellysmack.
Conclusion
With $299.4 million in disclosed funding this week, investor attention across Africa and the Middle East remained heavily concentrated in Israeli AI infrastructure and cybersecurity, sectors that together accounted for nearly 80 percent of the week’s capital. Early-stage funding across the African continent was comparatively modest, though the 4G Capital and ANDA deals both signal that patient, impact-oriented capital is quietly finding its way into real markets in East Africa and Angola.
Week 13’s Biggest Startup Funding Rounds in the Middle East and Africa, Led by NoTraffic, as Cybersecurity and AI Drew the Biggest Checks
Israeli AI and cybersecurity startups captured the heaviest checks this week, while fintech deals out of South Africa and the UAE kept steady deal flow across the wider region.
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