Dubai of Tomorrow · The backers
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Backer2on the record
General Catalyst
General Catalyst is a venture capital firm founded in 2000 and headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with more than $43 billion in assets under management across six global offices and over 900 portfolio companies. In 2025 it made its first Middle East proptech investment by leading PRYPCO's pre-Series A round in the UAE, after leading Riyadh fintech Lean Technologies' $67.5 million Series B in 2024.
Venture capital / Cambridge, Massachusetts / Since 2000
Portfolio on the record
2 founders, as stated on their cards.
Dubai of Tomorrow
People Companies Ideas Capital
No.039
Amira Sajwani
Founder, PRYPCO
Proptech
She is betting Dubai property can trade like a liquid asset, from fractional blocks to government-registered tokenized title deeds.
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Dubai of Tomorrow
People Companies Ideas Capital
No.039
PRYPCO
Founded 2022 · Dubai
Pre-Series A
Total funding as recorded
~AED 10bn
Mortgages facilitated
Recorded 15 Jul 2026
Backers
Compounding moves
- 2022Founded PRYPCO spanning fractional investment, mortgages and Golden Visa services
- 2025Launched PRYPCO Mint with the Dubai Land Department; pilot drew over AED 18.5M into tokenized title deeds
- 2025Closed pre-Series A led by General Catalyst, the firm's first Middle East investment
- 2026Opened a regulated secondary marketplace for tokenized property resale
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Dubai of Tomorrow
People Companies Ideas Capital
No.001
Hisham Al-Falih
Founder, Lean Technologies
Fintech
Open banking APIs connecting fintech to bank accounts across MENA.
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Dubai of Tomorrow
People Companies Ideas Capital
No.001
Lean Technologies
Founded 2019 · Riyadh
$100M+
Total funding as recorded
2
Backers on record
Recorded 9 Aug 2026
Compounding moves
- 2019Founded in Riyadh by Al-Falih, Gupta and Sarkar
- 2022$33M Series A, backed by Sequoia Capital India
- 2024$67.5M Series B led by General Catalyst
- 2026SAMA open banking licence granted, March 2026
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Syndicate
Firms that share a record with General Catalyst.
- Peak XV Partners1 sharedLean Technologies · Checked against Wamda. Lean raises $33 million in round led by Sequoia Capital India
In your sectors, not yet in your portfolio
Founders on the record in Proptech, Fintech whom General Catalyst has not backed, as stated on the cards.
Dubai of Tomorrow
People Companies Ideas Capital
No.046
Hosam Arab
Co-founder, Tabby
Fintech
From online retail to rethinking how the region pays.
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Dubai of Tomorrow
People Companies Ideas Capital
No.046
Tabby
Founded 2019 · Dubai
$757M+
Total funding as recorded
$6.5B
Sep 2026 Series F · Valued
Recorded 25 Sep 2026
Compounding moves
- 2024Acquired Tweeq, a SAMA-licensed wallet
- 2025$160M Series E at $3.3B
- 2026CBUAE wallet and SAMA finance licences
- 2026$233M Series F at $6.5B
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Dubai of Tomorrow
People Companies Ideas Capital
No.032
Abdulla Almoayed
Founder, Tarabut
Fintech
Tarabut
He built MENA's first regulated open banking platform, licensed in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia and headquartered in Dubai, then bought London payments firm Vyne to add account-to-account payments ahead of new UAE and Saudi rules.
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Dubai of Tomorrow
People Companies Ideas Capital
No.032
Tarabut
Tarabut
Founded 2017 · Bahrain
$57M
Total funding as recorded
Dubai
HQ
Recorded 17 Jul 2026
Compounding moves
- 2019Launched Tarabut Gateway out of Bahrain as MENA's first regulated open banking platform
- 2021Raised $13M seed, then a $12M pre-Series A led by Tiger Global
- 2023Closed $32M Series A led by Pinnacle Capital, with Visa participating
- 2024Acquired London A2A payments platform Vyne with SAMA and FCA approval
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Dubai of Tomorrow
People Companies Ideas Capital
No.041
Tariq Sheikh
Founder, Postpay
Fintech
Postpay
He built Postpay on interest-free instalments funded through bank debt from Commercial Bank of Dubai rather than repeated equity rounds.
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Dubai of Tomorrow
People Companies Ideas Capital
No.041
Postpay
Postpay
Founded 2019 · Dubai
$10M
Total funding as recorded
3
interest-free instalments · Model
Recorded 15 Jul 2026
Compounding moves
- 2019Founded in Dubai; launched three-instalment interest-free checkout financing
- 2021Took $10M equity investment from Afterpay and AP Ventures
- 2022Signed debt financing deal with Commercial Bank of Dubai to fund GCC expansion
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Dubai of Tomorrow
People Companies Ideas Capital
No.042
Marwan Hachem
Co-founder, YAP
Fintech
He co-founded YAP with Anas Zaidan as an independent neobank built on partner bank licences, starting with RAKBank in the UAE and extending the model toward Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Ghana.
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Dubai of Tomorrow
People Companies Ideas Capital
No.042
YAP
Founded 2021 · Dubai
$41M
Total funding as recorded
4
Backers on record
Recorded 15 Jul 2026
Compounding moves
- 2021Launched UAE digital banking platform in partnership with RAKBank
- 2022Raised $41M led by Aljazira Capital to fund expansion into Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Pakistan and Ghana
- 2024Reported to have laid off nearly all Pakistan staff, leaving its Pakistan expansion in doubt
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Dubai of Tomorrow
People Companies Ideas Capital
No.044
Zuhair Shamma
Co-founder, Zest Equity
Fintech
He co-founded Zest Equity to digitize private market transactions in MENA, building execution rails for secondaries and SPVs on deals under $100 million.
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Dubai of Tomorrow
People Companies Ideas Capital
No.044
Zest Equity
Founded 2021 · Dubai
$8.1M
Total funding as recorded
3
Backers on record
Recorded 9 Aug 2026
Compounding moves
- 2021Founded in Dubai with Rawan Baddour as a marketplace for secondary trading of startup shares
- 2023Raised $3.8M seed led by MEVP with Dubai Future District Fund
- 2025Raised $4.3M pre-Series A led by Prosus Ventures with Morgan Stanley participation
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Dubai of Tomorrow
People Companies Ideas Capital
No.045
Dina Shoman
Co-founder, Verity
Fintech
Verity
An international banking veteran, she co-founded Verity as a DIFC-based family banking app that gives children aged 8 to 18 prepaid cards and chore-based allowances to build money skills.
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Dubai of Tomorrow
People Companies Ideas Capital
No.045
Verity
Verity
Founded 2021 · Dubai
$1.2M
Total funding as recorded
3
Backers on record
Recorded 17 Jul 2026
Compounding moves
- 2021Founded in May at DIFC with Omar Al Sharif and Kamal Al-Samarrai; closed $800K pre-seed
- 2022App and prepaid Visa cards for kids and teens went live in the UAE; bridge round lifted total raised to $1.2M
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Chronicles
The stories of the founders General Catalyst backed.
- Fintech · Lean TechnologiesHisham Al-Falih Turned Open Banking From a Regulation Into Core Fintech Infrastructure in MENA
Provenance
About the firm, as sourced:
- General Catalyst, home
- Wikipedia, General Catalyst
- Wamda, General Catalyst finances PRYPCO's pre-Series A round, 2025
- Gulf Business, General Catalyst backs PRYPCO, 2025
- MENAbytes, Lean Series B, 2024
Portfolio as stated on 2 records: No. 039, No. 001. This page is a view of the record. The anchored facts live on each card.
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