The CTO Show Brief: Issue 133

Author

Mehmet Gonullu
August 24, 2025

Welcome to Issue 133  of The CTO Show Brief!

From Abu Dhabi’s AI-driven recruitment and Saudi’s gaming and tourism rounds to fresh VC vehicles, Islamic fintech’s outsized share of capital, and new talent engines like Arabic.AI and Innovate47, MEA continues to gather real operating momentum. Zooming out, AI remains the market’s organizing force—think Google’s on-device push and Cognition AI’s mega round—while geopolitics redirects capital toward defence tech in Europe under the EU AI Act, and APAC splits between China’s state-led AI bets, India’s recalibrated funding, and Singapore’s fintech strength. The result is a clear barbell effect: fewer, larger AI deals on one side and focused regional plays on the other—positioning MEA to capture spillover as capital, talent, and infrastructure converge this quarter.

Whether you’re one of our 2,700 subscribers or a first-time reader—grab your coffee, and let’s dive into what’s shaping tech and venture this week!

 

🚀 Working on something exciting for founders & investors

Over the past months, I’ve been quietly building a new way to back bold founders in B2B tech and DeepTech scaling between MENA and the US. If you’re an investor or ecosystem builder who wants to explore how we can create impact together, let’s connect.

 MEA Tech Momentum

 The startup ecosystem in the Middle East, Africa, and other emerging markets is experiencing a period of robust growth and strategic investment. Recent funding rounds reveal a strong focus on sectors like gaming, AI-driven recruitment, and tourism, with significant deals being led by both regional and international investors. Beyond direct funding, the landscape is also shaped by new venture capital funds, a dominant surge in Islamic fintech, and initiatives dedicated to cultivating local talent in cutting-edge fields such as AI and climate-smart agriculture.

Startup Funding Rounds in MEA and Emerging Markets

  • Professional.me (Abu Dhabi, UAE) Professional.me raised $3.1 million in a seed funding round led by Raha Beach Ventures to enhance its AI-driven recruitment platform, using personalized micro-LLMs for faster, inclusive hiring across the Middle East, Europe, and the UK. The funding will expand its engineering team and scale platform access for employers in emerging markets, integrating with existing systems to reduce recruitment time. (Source: https://www.menabytes.com/professional-me-seed/)

  • Fahy Studios (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) Fahy Studios, a game development startup, secured $1.75 million from Impact46 and Merak Capital to develop hybrid-casual mobile games, strengthening Saudi Arabia’s gaming industry. The funds will expand their team and production capabilities, focusing on globally competitive games like RAWR and Footy Traps. (Source: https://www.menabytes.com/fahy-studios-1-75-million/)

  • Gathern (Saudi Arabia) Gathern, a leading vacation rental platform, raised $72 million in a Series B round led by Sanabil Investments, valuing it at over $266 million as it prepares for a Tadawul IPO. The funding will enhance its AI-driven technology and expand operations to support Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 tourism goals, targeting inbound travelers in emerging markets. (Source: https://www.menabytes.com/gathern-series-b/)

  • Starvania Studios (Saudi Arabia) Starvania Studios, an indie game developer, secured $1.1 million from Merak Capital and Impact46 to boost PC and console game development, focusing on Saudi talent recruitment. The investment will expand their creative pipeline, building on their Arabian mythology-inspired game, Bahamut and the Waqwaq Tree. (Source: http://wamda.com/2025/08/starvania-lands-1-1-million-investment-expand-saudi-gaming-innovation)

  • Jahez (Saudi Arabia) Jahez, an online food delivery platform, secured a $40 million Shariah-compliant facility from the National Bank of Bahrain to finance its new headquarters, supporting expansion in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Kuwait. The funding follows its $245 million acquisition of a 76.56% stake in Qatar’s Snoonu, enhancing its GCC on-demand delivery market presence. (Source: http://wamda.com/2025/08/jahez-secures-40-million-shariah-compliant-facility-nbb)

  • Space42 (UAE) Space42, a Mubadala-backed satellite communications company, is exploring a funding round to enhance satellite coverage in Africa, positioning it as a competitor to Starlink. Discussions are in early stages, with no specific fundraising target yet established. (Source: https://circuit.news/2025/08/22/space42-mulls-funding-round-for-satellite-coverage-in-africa/)

VC Funds, Investments, and Trends

Accelerators, Launches, and Talent Initiatives

Reports and Market Insights

 🌍 Global Tech & VC Pulse

This week wasn't defined by a broad market upswing, but by the profound concentration of capital and innovation around two powerful forces: the gravitational pull of Artificial Intelligence and the strategic realignment driven by new geopolitical realities. Explore how these themes are reshaping the global technology ecosystem.

 

🧠 The AI Gravitational Pull

From record-breaking venture financing for AI-native companies to the strategic repositioning of hardware giants around on-device AI, a select group of heavily capitalized firms are defining the market, concentrating capital into fewer, larger deals.

🛡️ The Rise of Geopolitical Tech

A new "securitization" of venture capital is emerging, most visible in Europe's surging investment in Defence Tech. National security and technological sovereignty are becoming primary drivers for investment, reshaping priorities for LPs and VCs alike.

 

Regional Deep Dive

North America: The AI Funding Epicenter

North America reaffirmed its position as the center of gravity for AI investment and strategic hardware launches. The week was defined by two landmark events: Google's "Made by Google" showcase and Cognition AI's monumental funding round.

Google's Pixel 10 Launch (Aug 20): Unveiled a new lineup with deep on-device AI integration, shifting the competitive battleground to intelligent software experiences.

Cognition AI's $500M Round: The AI coding startup's massive funding round catapulted its valuation to $9.8 billion, highlighting a "winner-takes-all" investor thesis in the autonomous agent market.

Key Conferences: VMware Explore and the Portland Cybersecurity Summit shaped enterprise tech adoption discussions.

 

Europe: Defence Tech Rises

Europe's tech landscape was defined by the tangible effects of geopolitical instability, catalyzing a boom in Defence Tech investment, and the continued implementation of its landmark AI regulations.

Stark's $62M Defence Tech Round: The Berlin-based drone developer's funding from Sequoia and strategic investors like the NATO Innovation Fund underscores a major shift in investor appetite toward national security tech.

EU AI Act in Action: Obligations for providers of General-Purpose AI models officially began to apply, setting a de facto global standard for AI regulation.

UK Market Snapshot: Germany leapfrogged the UK as Europe's top venture market in Q2, though the UK saw continued activity in specialized sectors like Health Tech and FinTech.

 

Asia-Pacific: A Market of Strategic Divergence

The Asia-Pacific region presented a fragmented picture, characterized by state-driven strategic initiatives in China, a recalibrating venture market in India, and sector-specific strength in Southeast Asia.

China's State-Directed AI Push: Massive state-backed funds continue to channel capital into AI and semiconductors to achieve technological self-sufficiency amidst US export controls.

India's Funding Recalibration: The startup ecosystem saw a funding slump, with investors now prioritizing strong unit economics and profitability over hyper-growth.

Singapore's FinTech Dominance: The city-state captured 88% of Southeast Asia's total fintech funding in H1 2025, solidifying its position as the region's undisputed hub.

 Market Movers: Tech & VC Highlights

VC Landscape: The Barbell Effect

This week's funding highlights the concentration of capital into a few high-conviction AI bets. The chart below visualizes the "barbell effect," where mega-deals for companies like Cognition AI dwarf other significant, yet comparatively smaller, rounds, creating a bifurcated and top-heavy market.

 Concluding Analysis & Forward Outlook

The week's events confirm that AI is now the central organizing principle of the tech ecosystem, while geopolitical forces are fundamentally altering investment strategies. Here's what to watch for in the coming quarter.

Forward Outlook for Q3 2025 

📈 AI Valuations: The central question is whether massive valuations for pre-revenue AI companies are sustainable or indicative of a sector-specific bubble. A correction could have a significant chilling effect.

🏢 Enterprise AI Adoption: It will be critical to watch for evidence that companies are successfully moving beyond pilot projects. Measurable ROI will be necessary to justify ongoing massive infrastructure spending.

📱 The Next Wave of Hardware: With Google setting a new benchmark, expect competitors like Apple to double down on their own on-device AI narratives. The focus will shift from the presence of AI to its practical utility.

🇪🇺 European Defence Tech Pipeline: The high-profile Stark deal will likely accelerate the pipeline of new Defence Tech startups seeking funding in Europe as VCs and LPs allocate capital to this new, high-priority sector.

 🎙️Episodes Recap:

 

 In this episode of The CTO Show with Mehmet, I sit down with Corey Hart , Senior Director of Growth at Mentavi Health. Corey shares his journey from the entertainment industry to scaling telehealth and mental health startups, his lessons from driving 800% growth in behavioral health, and how AI-driven personalization (“B2Me”) is reshaping healthcare marketing and patient care.

 In this episode of The CTO Show with Mehmet, I sit down with Alistair Gordon Alistair Gordon, founder of Expertunity and author of Master Expert. Alistair has spent decades helping organizations unlock the hidden potential of their technical experts by transforming them into influential leaders. We dive into why technical skills alone are no longer enough, how “enterprise skills” drive innovation, and why overlooking experts in leadership development is one of the costliest mistakes organizations make.

In this episode of The CTO Show with Mehmet, I sit down with Rob Kalwarowsky — executive coach, TEDx speaker, and author of Capitalizing on Chaos. Rob shares his powerful personal journey from MIT-trained engineer to leadership coach, opening up about toxic leadership, mental health struggles, and how he transformed adversity into a framework for resilient leadership.

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 Thanks for reading — and for being part of this growing, global-minded network.

 — Mehmet