UAE-based fintech startup Sav has raised $750,000 in a pre-seed funding round led by angel investors and fintech firms in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The raised capital will allow Sav to reach more users and further enhance the user experience, said Purvi Munot, CEO of Sav, in a statement shared by Wamda. Founded by Munot in 2021, Sav allows users to set personalized savings plans. With these, users can track their progress, and get rewards upon meeting savings goals.
The company claims users on all have set saving goals upwards of AED 20 million ($5 million). It is available for download on the App Store as well as Google Play Store. Sav is one of the firms part of Mohammed Bin Rashid Innovation Fund’s (MBRIF) Innovation Accelerator program that aims to support innovative projects to drive growth in the UAE and beyond. The program focuses on sectors including technology, space, education, health, clean energy, transport, and water.
UAE-based ed-tech company mentor has raised $10 million in Pre-Series C funding led by e&capital. Existing investors like Sawari Ventures, Egypt Ventures, Partech, Endure Capital, and Sango Capital, also participated in the round. the mentor will use the funds to increase its investments in the business-to-consumer (B2C) segment and expansion into Saudi Arabia, the company said in a statement. As per the startup, its target is a market of 400 million Arabic speakers who do not have access to educational content. Recently, the mentor made several key hires like Sonia Lethal, who was Chief Marketing Officer at OSN, VP of Digital Marketing at Emirates and Regional Marketing Director at Souq.com, and Adel Khalil who was VP of Engineering at Talabat. Others include Sally Metwally, who was with ITWORX, Misr El Kheir Foundation, and TIEC, Tharwat Ibrahim, who was at ExxonMobil Egypt, and Ahmed Faysal, the Chief Content Production Officer. A key milestone for mentors will be to empower over 10 million learners, Dr. Ihab Fikry, co-founder and CEO of Almentor, and Mr. Ibrahim Kamel, co-founder, and COO said in a statement. Founded in 2016, the mentor has 950 mentors on board to date who have made over 1000 online courses for corporates, government bodies, and individuals. It has launched monthly and annual subscription plans where the learners get unlimited access to a library of over 700 courses on topics, the statement read. e& capital’s investment into mentor is towards capitalizing the economic opportunity offered by the region, Eddy Farhat, Vice President of the firm said in a statement.