Startup funding across Africa and the Middle East totalled $239.63 million in Week 35, based on disclosed funding rounds tracked by Techloy, with investor capital flowing primarily into AI security and fintech. Two deals accounted for most of the week’s funding activity.
Top startup funding rounds in Africa & Middle East
Alice — $140 million (AI security), Israel. Alice, which rebranded from ActiveFence in January, helps test clients’ AI models for vulnerabilities and offers guardrails to protect against them during production. Apax Digital led the round with Samsung, SentinelOne, Norwest, and CRV joining, bringing Alice’s funding total to $280 million and giving the company a valuation of $700 million to $800 million. This capital will be used to grow and expand.
Fasset — $68 million (Fintech), UAE. Fasset runs a Sharia-compliant digital bank that operates on stablecoins and provides accounts, cards and cross-border payments in Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Japan’s SBI Group led the Series C round, with Fasset reaching a valuation of $1 billion, just four months after its $51 million Series B. It will use this capital to scale its stablecoin banking platform, with plans to set up a joint digital bank in Malaysia with the Japanese company.
