Unifonic, the leading Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) startup of the region, is launching a $15 million fund, it announced at LEAP, a local technology conference, on Tuesday. The fund, X by Unifonic, will invest in seed-stage B2B SaaS startups across the Middle East, North Africa, Turkey & Pakistan.
X by Unifonic also includes an accelerator and a venture studio. The Saudi startup has been running the accelerator program for SaaS startups for over two years. It ran the first cohort in partnership with Sukna Ventures, and the second with The Space.
According to its website, the three month accelerator program provides early-stage SaaS startups with $150,000 investment, mentorship, office space, and different other services.
“We invest in and co-build the next disruptive SaaS startups in the MENA region with a $26.6 million Venture Studio & Accelerator Fund,” notes Unifonic’s website.
The fund is led by Ayman Hamdan who is co-founder and VP of Corporate Affairs at Unifonic.
According to the manifesto of the fund, Unifonic is trying to build a thriving SaaS ecosystem in the region by working with founders and investors in the space.
“We believe in the power of technology to change the world and are excited to partner with SaaS founders who are using technology to solve real problems and make a positive impact on the world. We have a strong track record of success in the SaaS industry as we have built and scaled our own SaaS business, and invested in and helped to grow several other successful SaaS companies,” states the manifesto.
“You will benefit from this when we partner with you with access to support from product development to marketing to sales. You will also be able to access our network of investors and partners,” it adds.
Unifonic has not shared the details but it looks like that the investments will be made through the accelerator.
Founded in 2006, Unifonic has grown to become one of the largest software startups in the region, and today offers different types of communications services through APIs and other mediums, to businesses all around the region.
It raised its first external financing round in 2018, a $21 million Series A led by STV and then a large $125 million Series B led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2 and Sanabil Investments, in 2021.
The Saudi SaaS startup also acquired Sestek, a Turkish startup that builds AI-powered customer service products, in 2022.
