Author: Arabian Media staff

Melbourne O’Banion co-founded insurtech Bestow with Jonathan Abelmann in 2017 after struggling to secure his own life insurance policy. His goal was to make it easier for people to obtain life insurance and make the process more tech-enabled. Initially, Bestow operated as a direct-to-consumer insurance provider — selling, underwriting, and servicing life insurance policies. In those first few years, the startup processed over a million applications. Its no-exam underwriting platform gained traction during the COVID pandemic as traditional medical exams were paused. As it grew its D2C business, Bestow in parallel developed software to help modernize the whole process.  Recognizing…

UAE entrepreneurs are being offered funding support to cover business startup and expansion costs. The Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development (KFED) announced the continuation of its existing funding programmes by offering new financial package to support Emirati entrepreneurs with both emerging and established projects in Abu Dhabi’s priority sectors. KFED continues to accept applications for medium and long-term loans designed to fulfil the requirements of innovative business ventures in the UAE. Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development in the UAE The funding programmes include the Startup Funding Programme and the Scale-up Funding Programme for existing projects, aimed at enhancing the concept…

“The sanctions were really crippling,” President Trump said, before he traveled to Qatar, where he was given a lavish welcome. Source link

If you’re a founder looking to grow your startup, chances are you’re wrestling with more than just product or capital. Talent, scale, and smart execution are the real battlegrounds. That’s exactly what TechCrunch All Stage 2025 is built to address on July 15 at Boston’s SoWa Power Station. See top startup leaders taking the stage to share honest insights, hands-on strategies, and lessons learned in the trenches. Early Bird pricing is still available for All Stage, with Founder passes discounted $210, Investor passes are available at a $200 discount, and students get a chance to attend for just $99.  Check…

Emirates Government Services Hub (EGSH), Dubai’s leading provider of centralised government services, announced a strategic partnership with IFZA Dubai, the UAE’s most dynamic free zone community. The collaboration will provide a full spectrum of services to IFZA’s growing network of entrepreneurs and foreign investors. With its state-of-the-art infrastructure, business-friendly regulations, and innovative ecosystem, IFZA is an ideal destination for SMEs and international companies looking to establish a strong foundation in Dubai. EGSH’s expertise will complement IFZA’s offerings by providing seamless support for trade license issuance, compliance management, and visa services, all tailored to the unique needs of free zone companies…

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation seeks to create an alternative aid system, but other groups have raised doubts about the feasibility of its plan. Source link

As serial entrepreneur Joel Milne founded, scaled, and then successfully sold mobile auto repair service startup RepairSmith to AutoNation, he was plagued by a persistent problem.  The automotive retail industry has a communication problem. And it’s an expensive one. Thousands of dealerships and mechanic shops — each one with an array of software systems — lack a common language to make communication with manufacturers and other businesses easier. “We had this problem of, ‘how do you work with dealerships and shops and talk to them as you’re running around repairing cars and trying to refer them business or get parts…

The new fund, Yango Ventures, will focus on seed to Series B investments primarily in online-to-offline (O2O), B2B software-as-a-service, and financial technology sectors, with plans to scale its capital base as entrepreneurial ecosystems expand in these high-growth markets. “We’re more than a tech company; we are an ecosystem committed to empowering entrepreneurs worldwide,” said Daniil Shuleyko, CEO of Yango Group. “Through Yango Ventures, we’re sharing our expertise and network to help startups scale, thrive, and drive meaningful change in their communities.” The fund’s creation represents a significant expansion of the Group’s operations beyond its core business of adapting global technology…

Three countries on President Trump’s Middle East tour this week are also the sites of recent investments in Trump businesses that benefit the president. Eric Lipton, an investigative reporter for The New York Times, describes those investments, and what those countries — Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates — are, at the same time, seeking from Mr. Trump and the United States. Source link

Fabled startup investor and accelerator Y Combinator has some choice words for Google in an amicus brief it just submitted in the U.S.’s monopoly case against the search giant. In the brief, YC charged that Google is a “monopolist” that has “stunted” the U.S. startup ecosystem by making VC firms like itself hesitate to fund web search and AI startups in what it calls a “kill zone” around Google. “Google has chilled independent firms like YC from funding and accelerating innovative startups that could otherwise have challenged Google’s dominance,” YC wrote in the filing. “The result is a landscape that…