Nayla Finance (co-founders Shaqran Alyahya + Khalid Naili; Saudi-Muslim — High) is a SAMA-licensed fintech using AI credit models to give Saudi micro-enterprises fast digital financing. Built through Sanabil Venture Studio — its first venture to close an institutional round. ~$18M pre-Series A at LEAP 2026 (equity led by Idrisi + Suhail Ventures; debt led by BLOMINVEST), on top of a $4M 2024 seed. Biggest Muslim-founder raise of the period.
Wamda (Nayla) →AILA (co-founders incl. Nouf Mugayel; Saudi-Muslim — High) raised a $3M pre-Series A (Rua Growth Fund-led; 500 Global, Jo Academy) for AI personalized learning that diagnoses students' gaps. IDRAJ (founder Kholoud Al Saleh; Saudi-Muslim — High) closed SAR 2.25M (~$598K) pre-seed for AI that assesses corporate IPO/listing readiness for the Saudi Exchange. Both hit the §5 women-founder vein.
Arab News (AILA) →Arab Therapy (co-founders Tareq Dalbah + Hekmat Al-Hasi; Jordanian-Muslim — High) raised a $2M pre-Series A (Manara Ventures-led) for Arabic-language teletherapy + AI mental-health tools, expanding into Saudi. HeyBreez (founder Karim Malhas; Jordanian-Muslim — Med-High) raised an oversubscribed $2.5M seed (Lunara Partners-led) for enterprise voice-AI agents processing 1M+ calls/month.
Arab News (Arab Therapy) →The notable AI-security stealth exits — Imper.ai ($28M, deepfake/impersonation defence; Israeli Unit 8200 founders Noam Awadish + Anatoly Blighovsky), Spectrum Security ($19M, SF; founder Meny Har) and Zenity (US/Israel, AI-agent security) — are Israeli or US non-Muslim-founded. Screened out per Filter A. StrikeReady / Corgea / Ciphero remain the tracked Security ★ cohort.
SecurityWeek (Imper.ai) →Tax Star ($1.75M, UAE AI corporate-tax/e-invoicing), XSquare (RAED-led pre-seed, UAE B2B payment orchestration), OORI (Saudi Shariah private-markets platform, CMA-licensed), Soor (Bahrain insurtech, CBB-licensed), Majestic Mind Games ($1.45M, Neom-backed Saudi game studio — Lujain Al-Bukhari) and Rwaj ($1.2M, Saudi live-shopping + auctions) all clear Filter A.
Arab News (Startup Wrap) →First refresh since 2026-08-14; swept the Aug 15 + Aug 22 Arab News wraps, Wamda, entArabi + LEAP 2026 and SecurityWeek. Adds (14): Nayla, AILA, HeyBreez, Arab Therapy, Tax Star, Fitting, Majestic Mind Games, XSquare, OORI, Soor, UMAMI, Rwaj, IDRAJ + Rozenama (Iraq ecosystem, Low-Med). Screened out (Filter A): Imper.ai / Spectrum / Zenity (Israeli/US cyber), Yuno (Colombian), Naran (Russian founders), Cobi (non-Muslim). Heavy AI + women-founder + Saudi tilt this period.
Arab News (Aug 22 wrap) →