Start-ups and entrepreneurship

MOHAMED AFRAH/AFP via Getty Images

Trump Org, Saudi partner Dar Global launch crypto scheme for Maldives resort

The deal marks a notable fusion of the Trump family’s traditional real estate business and its expanding foothold in the crypto world, and arrives a day before Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince arrives in Washington.

Analysis

Gulf investors emerge as key players in US social media giants TikTok, Snap, X

With UAE tech investor MGX set to take a stake in TikTok's US operations, investors from the Middle East could cement their role in America's social media landscape.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

PayPal headquarters pictured in San Jose, California, on Oct. 15, 2015.

PayPal bets $100M as Middle East’s Gulf fintech giants amplify competition

The move from the US payments giant comes amid a flurry of activity that has further cemented the Gulf’s fintech sector on the map for global investors — including Saudi Arabia's Tamara, which recently secured a $2.4 billion financing deal.

United Arab Emirates

MURAT KOCABAS/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

KFC’s Turkey relaunch tests Western brands’ resilience in Gaza boycott era

From KFC to Carrefour, the Middle East's consumer brand landscape is undergoing significant shifts as the two-year anniversary of boycotts linked to the Gaza war approaches.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Latest News

Meet Karim Attiyeh, youngest Arab American billionaire of Lebanese origin

An image of Karim Attiyeh.

Analysis

Syria’s internet reboot takes shape amid outreach to Gulf telecoms

Men walk past shops selling mobile phones in the Damascus Tower market, which specializes in the smart phone business, in the Syrian capital on January 12, 2025.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Analysis

US stock plunge poses dilemmas for Gulf investors while exposing PIF, Mubadala risks

NYSE

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Analysis

China’s DeepSeek triumph sparks billion-dollar AI dilemmas for Gulf investors

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Preparations for 44.01's first project in UAE are well underway. This DAC + mineralisation pilot with ADNOCGroup , Masdar and FNRC will be the first carbon negative project by an energy company in the Middle East.

Analysis

Oman’s sleepy tech sector showing signs of promise

Global investors are putting millions into an Omani carbon removal startup, signaling a breakthrough for a market that has lagged behind Gulf neighbors targeting tech growth.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Google reportedly offers $23B for Israeli cybersecurity firm Wiz

Israel's Wiz is one of the world’s fastest-growing startups, having reached $350 million annual recurring revenue last year, and provides services to more than 40% of Fortune 100 businesses.

FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images

Chemi Peres: Israeli tech back to business, cyber security among most resilient

Despite the war and the divides within the Israeli society, tech entrepreneur Chemi Peres embraces the optimism of his father, late President Shimon Peres, for the future of the country’s innovation ecosystem.

Photo from LEAP 2024.

AI and cloud investments dominate Saudi Arabia's LEAP tech summit

Amazon Web Services and DataVolt were among the companies that made significant cloud investments in the kingdom, which is looking to become a global technology hub.

Lebanese bartender Hadi Ghassan prepares a drink behind the counter at "Meraki Riyadh", a pop-up bar offering non-alcoholic bellinis and spritzes, served in chilled cocktail glasses, in Riyadh on January 23, 2024. The bar's success highlights widening acceptance of more daring non-alcoholic fare even as booze itself remains strictly off-limits in the Gulf kingdom, home to Islam's holiest sites. (Photo by Fayez Nureldine / AFP) (Photo by FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images)

What does Saudi's first-ever alcohol store say about new Gulf culture?

Alcohol-free 'mocktails' are also becoming increasingly popular across the region.

COP28

Business & Tech Briefing: COP28 kickoff

In this handout image provided by the GPO, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) takes Elon Musk (L) on a tour of Kibbutz Kfar Aza after the Oct. 7 massacre took place there, on Nov. 27, 2023 in Kfar Aza, Israel.

What's behind Elon Musk's visit to Israel, meeting with Netanyahu?

On a visit to Israel, American billionaire Elon Musk called for a halt to the hate propaganda that he said enabled the Oct. 7 attack and also expressed willingness to help reconstruct Gaza.

Kuwaiti traders follow the market's movement at the Stock Exchange, Kuwait City, March 8, 2018.

Analysis

China's venture capital firms making inroads in Saudi Arabia, UAE

Chinese venture capital investors have been pricing deals at more competitive rates and taking advantage of a widening vacuum left by Western rivals in the region.

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

Benjamin Netanyahu and Elon Musk

Analysis

Netanyahu to meet Musk, Erdogan, Zelenskyy, Biden — but no White House visit

The Israeli prime minister and the US president will most likely come face to face on the sidelines of the UN meeting in New York.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Solar panels used to generate renewable energy at the Sustainability Pavilion during a media tour at the Dubai Expo 2020, a week ahead of its public opening, in the United Arab Emirates.

UAE places technology at top of COP28 agenda in Dubai

The UAE Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology, UAE Space Agency and COP28 signed an agreement in July to coordinate on technology-focused sustainable solutions ahead of the major climate change conference in Dubai later this year.

United Arab Emirates

Emiratis work at the Middle East's largest technology exhibition, GITEX, which opened in Dubai Oct, 3, 2004.

What is Emiratization and how did UAE recover $600,000 from 'fake hires?'

The UAE recovered $600,000 worth of payments made by private companies to 107 Emiratis for fake jobs created in an attempt to fulfill Emiratization quotas.

United Arab Emirates

JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images

Amid internal crisis, Israel fights to retain hi-tech industry with tax benefits

The Israeli government has issued a new law to encourage investment in tech startups as firms consider fleeing the country on the back of the judicial overhaul.