The STEP Conference just came to a close, recording over USD 1.6 million worth of funding deals between companies, regional and homegrown startups. The STEP Conference, held in Dubai and now in its 9th edition, is considered one of the leading technology festivals for emerging markets.
Planned over two jam-packed days, over 7000 visitors, 300 international and local exhibitors from 24 countries and 200 speakers took part in the event.
“One of the best things about this year’s STEP Conference is breaking our record with 300 showcasing startups from all over the world. We are also proud to have several funds and startup investments announced at STEP 2020,” shared Ray Dargham, Founder & CEO at STEP.
Some of the key funding highlights from the conference included:
- Launching of new investment platform, Nuwa Capital, by managing partner Khaled Talhouni. Nuwa Capital is targeting up to USD 100 million in commitments in emerging markets, primarily covering the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) including KSA and UAE, East Africa, Pakistan and Turkey.
- Vezeeta, a leading digital healthcare platform covering the Middle East and Africa, secured USD 40 Million in its Series D round led by Gulf Capital.
- Okadoc, a digitized instant doctor appointment booking platform, closed its USD 10 million Series A round, following a USD 2.3 million seed round in 2018.
- EAT app, a Dubai-based online restaurant reservation platform used throughout the Middle East, raised a USD 5 million Series B round of funding led by 500 Startups and Derayah VC.
STEP Conference have now opened up the registration for a FREE 2for1 discount code, to get 2 tickets for the price of 1 for STEP 2021. Apply here.
