--- url: 'https://qubit.capital/blog/mena-series-a-weekly-funding-roundup-week-4-may-2026' title: 'MENA Series A Weekly Funding Roundup (May 15-22, 2026): $37.0M Raised Across 2 Deals' author: name: Sahil Agrawal url: 'https://qubit.capital/blog/author/sahil' date: '2026-05-22T04:33:38+05:30' modified: '2026-05-22T11:29:28+05:30' type: post summary: 'MENA Series A funding hit $37M this week across two Saudi deals: Stitch''s $25M a16z-led round and Aumet''s $12M healthtech raise.' categories: - Weekly Funding Roundup image: 'https://qubit.capital/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/featured-mena-series-a-67125.webp' published: true --- # MENA Series A Weekly Funding Roundup (May 15-22, 2026): $37.0M Raised Across 2 Deals Two Saudi-headquartered startups closed Series A rounds this week, pulling in a combined $37 million and reinforcing Riyadh’s position as the gravitational center of MENA venture activity. Fintech infrastructure player Stitch took the larger share at $25 million, while healthtech marketplace Aumet secured $12 million to push its pharmaceutical platform deeper across the region. The week’s signal is less about volume and more about who showed up. Andreessen Horowitz made its first-ever investment in the Gulf Cooperation Council region, anchoring the Stitch round. Qatar Development Bank and a roster of regional and Asian funds backed Aumet. Both deals point to a maturing capital stack where global tier-one names are now writing checks alongside the Gulf’s domestic VCs. Weekly Funding Roundup MAY 15-22, 2026 $37M TOTAL RAISED 2DEALS CLOSED 100%SERIES A $18.5MAVG DEAL SIZE MENATOP REGION BY STAGE Series A$37M100% BY SECTOR StitchFintech (core banking infrastructure)$25M AumetHealthtech (pharmaceutical B2B marketplace)$12M Table of Contents - [1. Stitch Raises $25M For Cloud-Native Core Banking Infrastructure](#1-stitch-raises-$25m-for-cloud-native-core-banking-infrastructure) [Deal Overview](#deal-overview) - [Investor Profile](#investor-profile) - [Company and Leadership](#company-and-leadership) - [Problem and Opportunity](#problem-and-opportunity) - [Product and Technology](#product-and-technology) - [Use of Proceeds and Vision](#use-of-proceeds-and-vision) - [Market Context](#market-context) - [2. Aumet Raises $12M For MENA Pharmaceutical Marketplace](#2-aumet-raises-$12m-for-mena-pharmaceutical-marketplace) [Deal Overview](#deal-overview-1) - [Investor Profile](#investor-profile-1) - [Company and Leadership](#company-and-leadership-1) - [Problem and Opportunity](#problem-and-opportunity-1) - [Product and Technology](#product-and-technology-1) - [Use of Proceeds and Vision](#use-of-proceeds-and-vision-1) - [Market Context](#market-context-1) - [Lessons For Founders](#lessons-for-founders) ## 1. Stitch Raises $25M For Cloud-Native Core Banking Infrastructure ### Deal Overview - Stage: Series A - Sector: Fintech (core banking infrastructure) - Geography: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - Round size: $25 million - Total funding to date: $35 million - Lead investor: Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) - Participating investors: Arbor Ventures, COTU Ventures, Raed Ventures, Saudi Venture Capital ### Investor Profile Andreessen Horowitz’s participation is the headline. This is a16z’s first check into the GCC, led by general partner Alex Rampell. The firm’s entry tends to act as a magnet for follow-on capital from global LPs and co-investors who previously treated the region as adjacent. The supporting syndicate is heavyweight on regional infrastructure expertise. Saudi Venture Capital and Raed Ventures bring deep knowledge of SAMA regulation and KSA fintech licensing. Arbor Ventures has backed financial infrastructure plays globally, and COTU Ventures has been one of the most active early-stage funds across the Gulf. ### Company and Leadership [Stitch](https://stitch.co) was founded in 2022 by Mohamed Oueida and is headquartered in Riyadh. The company is distinct from the South African open-banking firm of the same name; the Saudi entity operates under stitch.co. Oueida has built the team around banking infrastructure veterans familiar with the operational realities of running core systems inside regulated institutions. The Series A closes roughly a year after a $10 million seed round in 2025. ### Problem and Opportunity Most banks in the Gulf still run on legacy mainframe cores from vendors like Temenos, Finacle, and FIS. These systems were architected decades ago and struggle to support modern product launches, embedded finance use cases, or the speed expected by digital-first challengers. The pain is acute. Saudi Arabia’s central bank, SAMA, has licensed more than 30 fintechs in the past three years, and Vision 2030 has set explicit targets for financial sector modernization. Incumbents need a faster path to launching new products, and new entrants need infrastructure that works out of the box. ### Product and Technology Stitch sells a cloud-native, modular core operating system for financial institutions. The platform unifies lending, cards, payments, ledgers, and payouts under a single SaaS plus API surface, letting customers launch products up to 80% faster than traditional core migrations. The data and regulatory moat is real. Stitch has processed over $5 billion in transactions in six months and grew its customer base tenfold in 2025. Its tight integration with SAMA-compliant rails, KSA data residency requirements, and a unified ledger capturing cross-product flows give it operating data that foreign cores like Thought Machine or Mambu cannot easily replicate in-region. ### Use of Proceeds and Vision Capital will fund product development across the lending, cards, and payments modules, regional expansion across MENA beyond KSA, and global go-to-market growth. Hiring will scale across engineering and commercial functions. The longer-term ambition is to become the AWS equivalent of banking infrastructure across the Gulf and broader MENA, tuned for GCC regulation, Arabic language requirements, and Islamic finance product structures. ### Market Context GCC core-banking spend is estimated at $5-7 billion annually. Global competitors include Thought Machine, Mambu, 10x Banking, and Temenos. Regional competitors include Codebase Technologies and Lean Technologies, though Lean operates higher in the stack on open banking APIs. Tailwinds are strong: KSA’s open banking framework rolled out in 2024, embedded finance demand is rising across the region, and a16z’s signal effect is likely to accelerate follow-on regional capital into core infrastructure plays. ## 2. Aumet Raises $12M For MENA Pharmaceutical Marketplace ### Deal Overview - Stage: Series A - Sector: Healthtech (pharmaceutical B2B marketplace) - Geography: Saudi Arabia - Round size: $12 million - Lead investor: Emkan Capital - Participating investors: Qatar Development Bank, SABAH VC, AAIC, Shorooq Partners ### Investor Profile Emkan Capital led the round, bringing Saudi institutional backing for what is shaping up as a regional healthtech category leader. Qatar Development Bank’s participation adds sovereign-linked support and signals cross-Gulf interest in the platform. Shorooq Partners has been one of the most active early-stage MENA investors of the past five years, with a portfolio spanning fintech, logistics, and now health infrastructure. AAIC contributes a healthcare-specific lens, and SABAH VC rounds out the syndicate with regional venture experience. ### Company and Leadership [Aumet](https://aumet.com) operates a B2B pharmaceutical marketplace connecting manufacturers, distributors, and pharmacies across MENA. The company is Saudi-headquartered and has been building distribution muscle across multiple Gulf and Levant markets. ### Problem and Opportunity Pharmaceutical distribution across MENA is fragmented. Manufacturers struggle to reach independent pharmacies efficiently, and pharmacies often deal with multiple distributors, opaque pricing, and inconsistent supply. The result is wasted inventory, stockouts, and margin compression on both sides. Digitizing this layer creates value for everyone in the chain. Manufacturers get better demand visibility, distributors get a more efficient channel, and pharmacies get transparent pricing and reliable supply. ### Product and Technology Aumet’s platform digitizes ordering, payments, and logistics between pharmaceutical manufacturers and independent pharmacies. The marketplace structure gives the company a network effect: more pharmacies attract more manufacturers, and more manufacturers improve catalog breadth for pharmacies. ### Use of Proceeds and Vision The capital funds geographic expansion across MENA, deeper product investment in the marketplace and payments layers, and team growth. The vision is to become the default B2B infrastructure for pharmaceutical distribution across the region. ### Market Context MENA’s pharmaceutical market is worth tens of billions annually, with Saudi Arabia and Egypt as the two largest national markets. Independent pharmacies still account for a meaningful share of dispensing, particularly outside major chains, which gives Aumet a long runway in fragmented distribution. Comparable B2B health marketplaces in other emerging markets, including India and parts of Africa, have shown the model can scale into adjacent services like financing, private label, and clinical software. ## Lessons For Founders - Global tier-one VCs are now writing first checks into the GCC. If you’re building regional infrastructure with defensible data and regulatory moats, you can credibly approach funds like a16z, Sequoia, and General Catalyst rather than treating them as out of reach. - Regulatory integration is a moat, not a tax. Stitch’s SAMA-compliant rails and KSA data residency are exactly what makes it hard for foreign cores to compete in-region. Build the compliance layer early and own it. - B2B infrastructure plays in MENA are getting funded at meaningful sizes. Both deals this week were infrastructure, not consumer. Capital is rewarding companies that sit underneath other businesses’ workflows. - Domain confusion can cost you. Stitch.co versus stitch.money, aumet.com versus similar URLs, hinthome.com versus hint.com. Lock your domain, your handles, and your trademark before you raise. Investors and customers will Google you first. - The Vision 2030 tailwind is real but specific. Funded categories cluster around financial services modernization, healthcare digitization, and tourism infrastructure. If your thesis maps to a stated national priority, you have an additional capital pool to tap.