Top 10 Gulf Tech Startups of 2025

Tamara is a Saudi-based BNPL and consumer finance platform that raised $340 million in a Series C round in 2023 at a $1 billion valuation, making it one of Saudi Arabia's first fintech unicorns. The platform serves millions of users in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, offering interest-free installment payments at over 10,000 partner merchants. Tamara's rapid growth reflects the Gulf's youthful, mobile-first population and underpenetrated credit card market.

Lean Technologies is a Saudi-founded open banking infrastructure startup that provides APIs allowing fintechs to access bank account data and initiate payments directly, reducing reliance on card networks. The company raised a $67.5 million Series B in 2023 and has regulatory approvals in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, two of the region's most valuable banking markets. Its infrastructure underpins dozens of Gulf fintech applications, making it a critical piece of the region's financial technology stack.

Kitopi is a Dubai-based cloud kitchen operator that manages over 200 kitchens across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain, powering delivery-only restaurant brands for global names like Shake Shack and local chains alike. The company became the GCC's first food-tech unicorn when it raised $415 million at a $1 billion valuation in 2021 and has continued to expand its proprietary Smart Kitchen Operating System technology. By 2025, Kitopi had processed over 200 million food orders across its network.

Pure Harvest Smart Farms is a UAE-based agri-tech company growing premium fruits and vegetables in controlled-environment greenhouses adapted for the extreme desert climate, addressing Gulf food security challenges. The company raised over $350 million by 2024 and operates farms in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, producing tomatoes, cucumbers, and strawberries year-round with 95% less water than conventional farming. Its technology is directly aligned with GCC governments' strategic goal to reduce food import dependency, which currently stands at over 80%.

Altibbi is a Jordan-based telehealth platform, one of the oldest and largest in the Arab world, which has grown from an online medical information portal to a full telehealth service operating in 22 Arab countries. The platform connects patients with over 14,000 licensed doctors for virtual consultations and raised $44 million in a Series B round in 2022. With Arabic-language medical content, Altibbi addresses a significant gap in the quality of health information available in the region.

Noon is a Dubai- and Riyadh-based e-commerce marketplace backed by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Emaar's Mohamed Alabbar, designed as the Arab world's answer to Amazon. Launched in 2017, it has grown to serve the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt with over 20 million products and processes millions of orders monthly across the region. Noon expanded into fintech with NoonPay and into grocery delivery, making it one of the most comprehensive e-commerce ecosystems in the Arab world.

SWVL is an Egyptian-founded mass transit and mobility startup that disrupted public transport by offering scheduled bus routes bookable via smartphone app. After going public on Nasdaq in 2022 via a SPAC merger and expanding to over 20 countries, the company restructured and refocused on B2B transportation solutions for corporations and governments in 2023-2024. Its technology for optimizing shared transit routes is now being piloted by several GCC government transport authorities.

Bayanat is an Abu Dhabi-listed AI and geospatial analytics company, subsidiary of G42, that provides satellite imagery analysis, spatial intelligence, and AI-driven insights to government and enterprise clients across the UAE and region. The company listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange in 2023, reflecting the growing maturity of UAE's deep-tech sector. Bayanat's technology is used in urban planning, agriculture monitoring, and national security applications across the Gulf.

Salla is a Saudi-based e-commerce platform builder that enables small and medium businesses to create Arabic-first online stores with built-in payment, shipping, and marketing tools. The company raised $130 million in a Series B round in 2022 and powers over 40,000 active merchants, primarily in Saudi Arabia. Salla's localized approach, supporting Arabic right-to-left interfaces and local payment gateways like Mada and STC Pay, gives it a distinct advantage over global competitors in the Saudi market.

Tamara is a Saudi-based BNPL and consumer finance platform that raised $340 million in a Series C round in 2023 at a $1 billion valuation, making it one of Saudi Arabia's first fintech unicorns. The platform serves millions of users in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, offering interest-free installment payments at over 10,000 partner merchants. Tamara's rapid growth reflects the Gulf's youthful, mobile-first population and underpenetrated credit card market.

Lean Technologies is a Saudi-founded open banking infrastructure startup that provides APIs allowing fintechs to access bank account data and initiate payments directly, reducing reliance on card networks. The company raised a $67.5 million Series B in 2023 and has regulatory approvals in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, two of the region's most valuable banking markets. Its infrastructure underpins dozens of Gulf fintech applications, making it a critical piece of the region's financial technology stack.

Kitopi is a Dubai-based cloud kitchen operator that manages over 200 kitchens across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain, powering delivery-only restaurant brands for global names like Shake Shack and local chains alike. The company became the GCC's first food-tech unicorn when it raised $415 million at a $1 billion valuation in 2021 and has continued to expand its proprietary Smart Kitchen Operating System technology. By 2025, Kitopi had processed over 200 million food orders across its network.

Pure Harvest Smart Farms is a UAE-based agri-tech company growing premium fruits and vegetables in controlled-environment greenhouses adapted for the extreme desert climate, addressing Gulf food security challenges. The company raised over $350 million by 2024 and operates farms in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, producing tomatoes, cucumbers, and strawberries year-round with 95% less water than conventional farming. Its technology is directly aligned with GCC governments' strategic goal to reduce food import dependency, which currently stands at over 80%.

Altibbi is a Jordan-based telehealth platform, one of the oldest and largest in the Arab world, which has grown from an online medical information portal to a full telehealth service operating in 22 Arab countries. The platform connects patients with over 14,000 licensed doctors for virtual consultations and raised $44 million in a Series B round in 2022. With Arabic-language medical content, Altibbi addresses a significant gap in the quality of health information available in the region.

Noon is a Dubai- and Riyadh-based e-commerce marketplace backed by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Emaar's Mohamed Alabbar, designed as the Arab world's answer to Amazon. Launched in 2017, it has grown to serve the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt with over 20 million products and processes millions of orders monthly across the region. Noon expanded into fintech with NoonPay and into grocery delivery, making it one of the most comprehensive e-commerce ecosystems in the Arab world.

SWVL is an Egyptian-founded mass transit and mobility startup that disrupted public transport by offering scheduled bus routes bookable via smartphone app. After going public on Nasdaq in 2022 via a SPAC merger and expanding to over 20 countries, the company restructured and refocused on B2B transportation solutions for corporations and governments in 2023-2024. Its technology for optimizing shared transit routes is now being piloted by several GCC government transport authorities.

Bayanat is an Abu Dhabi-listed AI and geospatial analytics company, subsidiary of G42, that provides satellite imagery analysis, spatial intelligence, and AI-driven insights to government and enterprise clients across the UAE and region. The company listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange in 2023, reflecting the growing maturity of UAE's deep-tech sector. Bayanat's technology is used in urban planning, agriculture monitoring, and national security applications across the Gulf.

Salla is a Saudi-based e-commerce platform builder that enables small and medium businesses to create Arabic-first online stores with built-in payment, shipping, and marketing tools. The company raised $130 million in a Series B round in 2022 and powers over 40,000 active merchants, primarily in Saudi Arabia. Salla's localized approach, supporting Arabic right-to-left interfaces and local payment gateways like Mada and STC Pay, gives it a distinct advantage over global competitors in the Saudi market.