500 Global and Sanabil Investments announce Batch 4 of the Sanabil 500 MENA Seed Accelerator Program

(BUSINESS WIRE)--500 Global, a leading global venture capital firm, and Sanabil Investments, a financial investment company focused on global private investments in venture capital, growth and small buyouts, unveiled today the 15 startups in Batch 4 of the Sanabil 500 MENA Seed Accelerator Program 2022. This year, the program received over 590 applicants from the MENA region, making it one of the most competitive programs to date with an acceptance rate of less than 2.5%. For the first time, the highest number of applications came from Saudi Arabia, at 160.

The Sanabil 500 MENA Seed Accelerator Program provides pre-seed and seed-stage startups across the Middle East and North Africa region with the foundation they need to validate and scale their business at both a regional and global level.

Companies selected in the 4^th batch are focused on developing solutions that address issues across a diverse range of sectors, including Fintech, Food & Beverage, Agtech, Healthtech and Insurtech. Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE are the top 3 countries of origin for this batch.

“We have been working closely with Batch 4 founders since September 2022 to help pave their way to success. They join the 39 companies that have already graduated from the Sanabil 500 MENA Seed Accelerator Program since our launch more than a year ago. Despite global economic headwinds, we continue to strongly believe in the potential of the Saudi and MENA startup ecosystem,” said Amal Dokhan, General Partner at 500 Global MENA.

“The growing interest in the Sanabil 500 MENA Seed Accelerator Program is testament to the unwavering commitment among startups to innovate and develop effective solutions to everyday issues. The increased participation from the top 3 geographies is a positive indication to the deepening entrepreneurial drive in Saudi and the MENA region. We look forward to this year's Demo Day and to continue enabling great minds, ideas and companies,” said Sanabil Spokesperson.

The 12-week program offers founders one-on-one mentorship with a focus on business strategy development, fundraising, and growth. Demo Day, scheduled for the 4^th of December, 2022 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Riyadh, is the final stop for the program where the 15 applicants present to a live audience of key stakeholders, including accredited investors, corporates and industry professionals. The event is also livestreamed to a wider audience on YouTube.

Here are Batch 4 companies:

AMWAL (Egypt): A sharia-compliant crowd-lending platform that connects individual investors to short-term, funding opportunities with SMBs helping them fulfill their transactions.

Deben (Egypt): Empowers CFOs to analyze, report, forecast, transact – manage your cash efficiently – no matter who your business banks with.

Egab (Egypt): A platform that connects reputable media outlets to exclusive high-quality stories by engaging journalists in hard-to-reach areas.

Eighty6 (UAE): A B2B marketplace for restaurants’ and suppliers’ daily procurement needs.

FarmUnboxed (UAE): Digitizes the international food supply chain by enabling supermarkets to source better quality produce with farm traceability.

Joy (Saudi Arabia): A one-stop app that delivers car services with affordable prices while ensuring quality and accessibility.

Karaz (Saudi Arabia): A holistic solution that enables people with diabetes to live better lives using gamification, IOT & real time data.

Medicarri (Saudi Arabia): A B2B medical marketplace connecting clinics with medical suppliers in one place.

Mod5r (Saudi Arabia): A fintech app that helps anyone to make automated, recurring investments to grow their wealth in an easy and secure way.

Monak (Oman): Fintech that provides financial inclusion and life services to migrants via partnered networks in the middle east.

Neqabty (Egypt): A community-based fintech platform that digitizes the financial and medical services of syndicates and labor unions, making them more accessible and affordable to their members.

NutriCal (UAE): A GCC-based food intelligence SaaS platform that powers F&B businesses and government authorities with nutritional analysis as well as dynamic and compliant food labels.

Stuck (Saudi Arabia): Live, on-demand language support for individuals and businesses to provide quality and hassle-free writing.

Walzay (Saudi Arabia): Helps MENA companies hire global experienced, pre-verified tech talent for full-time roles while reducing the total hiring time from 3 months to 1.

Wellxai (UAE): Provides individuals and companies with insurance that enables and rewards habits like physical activity, mental wellness and healthy eating.

To attend Demo Day, please request an invite here.

About 500 Global

500 Global is a venture capital firm with $2.7B in assets under management that invests in founders building fast-growing technology companies. We focus on markets where technology, innovation, and capital can unlock long-term value and drive economic growth. We work closely with key stakeholders and advise governments on how best to support entrepreneurial ecosystems so startups can thrive. 500 Global has backed over 5,000 founders representing more than 2,700 companies operating in 81 countries. We have invested in 49 companies valued at over $1 billion and 150+ companies valued at over $100 million (including private, public, and exited companies). Our 180+ team members are located in 27 countries and bring experience as entrepreneurs, investors, and operators from some of the world’s leading technology companies.

About Sanabil Investments

Sanabil is a financial investment company, wholly owned by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), with USD 8 billion in paid-up share capital. Sanabil commits more than USD 2 billion in capital per annum into global private investments that include VC/growth. Sanabil is a dynamic, nimble, and highly experienced team of investment professionals. The Company provides partners with patient capital, the ability to invest across multiple funding rounds, and access to the region. At Sanabil, we invest in great ideas, great minds, and great companies. For more information, please visit www.sanabil.com.

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