VC React Podcast
Ahmad Takatkah (VCpreneur)
Every week, we bring you insights and reactions from top VCs, reacting to the latest news on MENA startups, funds, and investment rounds.
Hosts:
Ahmad Takatkah, VCpreneur
Sign up to VCpreneur Newsletter on https://www.vcpreneur.com/
Jamie Lane, FWDstart
Sign up to FWDstart Newsletter on https://www.fwdstart.me/
#startups #vc #tech #ai #investments #founders #entrepreneurship #venturecapital #venturedebt #privatecredit #finance #business #ipo #acquisitions #revenuebasedfinancing #fintech #web3
Hosts:
Ahmad Takatkah, VCpreneur
Sign up to VCpreneur Newsletter on https://www.vcpreneur.com/
Jamie Lane, FWDstart
Sign up to FWDstart Newsletter on https://www.fwdstart.me/
#startups #vc #tech #ai #investments #founders #entrepreneurship #venturecapital #venturedebt #privatecredit #finance #business #ipo #acquisitions #revenuebasedfinancing #fintech #web3
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jan 18, 2026 • 43min
VC React SV E5: A16Z's $15B Raise, Gemini To Power Siri, Anthropic Health, Bizarre Tech at CES 2026!
VC React Podcast - Silicon Valley:Every week, we bring you insights and reactions from top VCs, LPs, & Angel Investors, reacting to the latest news on Silicon Valley startups, funds, and investment rounds. ---Hosts: Ahmad Takatkah, VCpreneur. Sign up to VCpreneur Newsletter on https://www.vcpreneur.com/Jamie Lane, FWDstart. Sign up to FWDstart Newsletter on https://archives.fwdstart.me/ ---Available on:Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/@VCReactPodcastSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4O6gOT7eoMxf5M7qy3HVMpApple:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/vc-react-podcast/id1764834384---Guest:1. Jake Ellowitz, Partner @ Tribe Capital, CTO @ Cofounder Termina Systems- LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jake-ellowitz/- Company Website: https://tribecap.co/2. Joseph Alalou, General Partner @ Daring Ventures- LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephalalou/- Company Website: https://daringventures.vc/---#siliconvalley # mena #startups #vc #lp #tech #investments #entrepreneurship #venturecapital #venturedebt #privateequity #finance #business #ipo #acquisitions #limitedpartners #accelerator #saas #data #software #deeptech #ai #fintech #edtech #cvc #web3 #crypto #blockchain #defi #impact #sanfrancisco #sanjose #boston #seattle #austin #nyc #riyadh #dubai #amman #cairo #qatar ---News of the week brought to you by FWDstart.This Week On The VC React Podcast:- A16Z raised more than $15 billion across five new funds. Is this a sign that power in VC is concentrating into the hands of just a few mega-firms? Or that VC is actually still a growing asset class?- Apple’s New Brain: Siri will run on Gemini. A smart way to catch up in AI، or a sign that Apple fell so far behind on models, it had to borrow Google’s brain?- Anthropic is rolling out Claude for Healthcare right after ChatGPT Health. LLMs in Healthcare: Superpower or Safety Risk?”- And finally, the most bizarre tech, announced so far at CES 2026
Jan 17, 2026 • 44min
VC React MENA E63: $230M To Seed Islamic Neo Bank, Data Governance, Disease Detection, IoT Transport
VC React Podcast - MENA:Every week, we bring you insights and reactions from top VCs, LPs, & Angel Investors, reacting to the latest news on MENA startups, funds, and investment rounds. ---Hosts: Ahmad Takatkah, VCpreneur. Sign up to VCpreneur Newsletter on https://www.vcpreneur.com/Jamie Lane, FWDstart. Sign up to FWDstart Newsletter on https://archives.fwdstart.me/ ---Available on:Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/@VCReactPodcastSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4O6gOT7eoMxf5M7qy3HVMpApple:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/vc-react-podcast/id1764834384---Guests:1. Hani Azzam, Partner @ Propeller - LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hani-azzam-90b5764b/- Company Website: https://propellerinc.me/---#siliconvalley # mena #startups #vc #lp #tech #investments #entrepreneurship #venturecapital #venturedebt #privateequity #finance #business #ipo #acquisitions #limitedpartners #accelerator #saas #data #software #deeptech #ai #fintech #edtech #cvc #web3 #crypto #blockchain #defi #impact #sanfrancisco #sanjose #boston #seattle #austin #nyc #riyadh #dubai #amman #cairo #qatar ---Sponsors: 💸This week’s episode is brought to you by:- OCTA – the AI-powered accounts receivable platform trusted by hundreds of companies like Careem, Lean Technologies, and ZenHR to automate collections, resolve disputes, and unlock financing with zero hassle. Visit: www.weareocta.com/fwdstart to get your first 6 months free.---News of the week brought to you by FWDstart.This Week On The VC React Podcast:- A $230M Seed Round, yes you heard that right, Seed round, and 230m dollars into an unlicensed, pre-launch Islamic digital bank called Mal. Is this a PR stunt, or are we getting comfortable with mega-rounds for a copy of a proven business model?- We have also discussed three new raises: 1. Governata raises $4M seed to build Saudi Arabia’s first Arabic-first, AI-ready data governance platform.2. Madeed raises a $400K pre-seed round to detect a disease before symptoms appear.3. eMushrif raises $7.5M to scale its smart school transport platform.---(أحمد طقاطقه)---
Dec 22, 2025 • 46min
VC React MENA E62: Noon's $500M Raise & MENA IPO Roadmap, Algeria's Largest Local currency Round!
Tala Al Jabri, founder of Wyld VC, and Louiza Chitour, co-founder of 10FT Ventures, dive into the dynamic MENA startup scene. They discuss Noon's recent $500M raise and whether it truly qualifies as a startup, given its backing and scale. The guests share insights on competitive pressures in e-commerce, the impact of AI and logistics, and the potential for further IPOs in the region. They also shed light on Algeria's burgeoning tech ecosystem and how innovative startups like Volz are redefining payment solutions.
Dec 22, 2025 • 46min
VC React SV E4: Lightspeed's $9B Mega Funds, Circles's Arc L1 Blockchain, & The Consumer AI Pivot.
VC React Podcast - Silicon Valley:Every week, we bring you insights and reactions from top VCs, LPs, & Angel Investors, reacting to the latest news on Silicon Valley startups, funds, and investment rounds. ---Hosts: Ahmad Takatkah, VCpreneur. Sign up to VCpreneur Newsletter on https://www.vcpreneur.com/Jamie Lane, FWDstart. Sign up to FWDstart Newsletter on https://archives.fwdstart.me/ ---Available on:Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/@VCReactPodcastSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4O6gOT7eoMxf5M7qy3HVMpApple:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/vc-react-podcast/id1764834384---Guest:1. Arjun Arora, Managing Partner at Format One.- LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arjundevarora/- Company Website: https://www.formatone.io/---#siliconvalley # mena #startups #vc #lp #tech #investments #entrepreneurship #venturecapital #venturedebt #privateequity #finance #business #ipo #acquisitions #limitedpartners #accelerator #saas #data #software #deeptech #ai #fintech #edtech #cvc #web3 #crypto #blockchain #defi #impact #sanfrancisco #sanjose #boston #seattle #austin #nyc #riyadh #dubai #amman #cairo #qatar ---News of the week brought to you by FWDstart.This Week On The VC React Podcast:An investor in Firefly Aerospace, OpenAI, Anthropic, Perplexity, Replit, Circle, Uniswap, Notion, and many many more join us today! With him we will discuss: Mega funds, fragile consumer AI, and the future of money:- We break down Lightspeed’s record $9B AI raise, Is capital concentrating around the same winners again? - We debate why most consumer AI startups still can’t stick. Is a pivot to enterprise what will make them the real revenues?- And finally, we zoom out: from traditional banks to neobanks to stablecoin-native banks and capital markets now. With Circle’s new Arc blockchain, are we watching the next financial infrastructure shift unfold in real time?
Dec 12, 2025 • 41min
VC React MENA E61: Qatar Joins AI Race with Qai, Reno: Renovate Now-Pay Later, COGNNA's Agentic SOC
VC React Podcast - MENA:Every week, we bring you insights and reactions from top VCs, LPs, & Angel Investors, reacting to the latest news on MENA startups, funds, and investment rounds. ---Hosts: Ahmad Takatkah, VCpreneur. Sign up to VCpreneur Newsletter on https://www.vcpreneur.com/Jamie Lane, FWDstart. Sign up to FWDstart Newsletter on https://archives.fwdstart.me/ ---Available on:Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/@VCReactPodcastSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4O6gOT7eoMxf5M7qy3HVMpApple:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/vc-react-podcast/id1764834384---Guests:1. Beau Seil, Managing Director of Atta, former VC, and one of the few couples in venture, his wife is Sonia Weymuller of VentureSouq.- LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/beauseil/- Company Website: 2. Timur Daudpota, Founding Partner at 2080 Ventures- LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timurdaudpota/- Company Website: https://www.2080.ventures/---#siliconvalley # mena #startups #vc #lp #tech #investments #entrepreneurship #venturecapital #venturedebt #privateequity #finance #business #ipo #acquisitions #limitedpartners #accelerator #saas #data #software #deeptech #ai #fintech #edtech #cvc #web3 #crypto #blockchain #defi #impact #sanfrancisco #sanjose #boston #seattle #austin #nyc #riyadh #dubai #amman #cairo #qatar ---Sponsors: 💸This week’s episode is brought to you by:- OCTA – the AI-powered accounts receivable platform trusted by hundreds of companies like Careem, Lean Technologies, and ZenHR to automate collections, resolve disputes, and unlock financing with zero hassle. Visit: www.weareocta.com/fwdstart to get your first 6 months free.---News of the week brought to you by FWDstart.This Week On The VC React Podcast:- Qatar jumps into the sovereign AI race with Qai, joining G42 in Abu Dhabi and HUMAIN in Riyadh. Are we actually building a regional AI super-cluster here—or just three neighbouring countries spending billions to rebuild the same stack three times under different flags?- UAE startup Reno wants to own home renovation end-to-end: design, contractors, project management and ‘Renovate Now, Pay Later’ financing. Is this the future—one startup controls an entire vertical with software, marketplace and credit—or is doing everything in one stack just adds complexity and risk too early? - Saudi cyber startup COGNNA raises a $9.2M Series A to build an AI-led, ‘agentic SOC’ that promises deployment in under 30 minutes. Can Saudi really build cyber products that compete globally, or will companies like COGNNA mostly win by being the local, compliant, on-the-ground vendor? ---(أحمد طقاطقه)---
Dec 12, 2025 • 36min
VC React SV E3: Paramount vs. Netflix, Kalshi Doubles Valuation, SpaceX's Secondary Sale at $800B
VC React Podcast - Silicon Valley:Every week, we bring you insights and reactions from top VCs, LPs, & Angel Investors, reacting to the latest news on Silicon Valley startups, funds, and investment rounds. ---Hosts: Ahmad Takatkah, VCpreneur. Sign up to VCpreneur Newsletter on https://www.vcpreneur.com/Jamie Lane, FWDstart. Sign up to FWDstart Newsletter on https://archives.fwdstart.me/ ---Available on:Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/@VCReactPodcastSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4O6gOT7eoMxf5M7qy3HVMpApple:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/vc-react-podcast/id1764834384---Guests:1. Brian Belley, from KingsCrowd Capital- LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianbelley/- Company Website: https://kingscrowd.com/2. Jenny Barba, Co-Founder & Managing Partner @ Features Capital- LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennybarba/- Company Website: https://featuresvc.co/---#siliconvalley # mena #startups #vc #lp #tech #investments #entrepreneurship #venturecapital #venturedebt #privateequity #finance #business #ipo #acquisitions #limitedpartners #accelerator #saas #data #software #deeptech #ai #fintech #edtech #cvc #web3 #crypto #blockchain #defi #impact #sanfrancisco #sanjose #boston #seattle #austin #nyc #riyadh #dubai #amman #cairo #qatar ---News of the week brought to you by FWDstart.This Week On The VC React Podcast:- Paramount has gone full hostile with an all-cash bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, trying to blow up Netflix’s agreed deal. “Is this just old-school media consolidation, or a panic move in an AI era where if you don’t control the biggest IP libraries, AI-generated content ends up owning the audience instead of you? - Kalshi just doubled its valuation in less than two months, and raised $1B at an $11B valuation as regulated prediction markets go fully mainstream. Does this feel like a new core asset class being born, or just a fancy, regulated gambling with great PR?- SpaceX: an $800B secondary sale, talk of a $1.5 trillion IPO, and employees lining up to sell $2B worth of shares! Is this the rational pricing of the most important company of our time, or exactly how bubbles look on the way up?
Dec 9, 2025 • 53min
VC React MENA E60: The Rise of Secondaries, What Happened to the Dubizzle lPO, and Egyptian Deeptech
VC React Podcast - MENA:Every week, we bring you insights and reactions from top VCs, LPs, & Angel Investors, reacting to the latest news on MENA startups, funds, and investment rounds. ---Hosts: Ahmad Takatkah, VCpreneur. Sign up to VCpreneur Newsletter on https://www.vcpreneur.com/Jamie Lane, FWDstart. Sign up to FWDstart Newsletter on https://archives.fwdstart.me/ ---Available on:Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/@VCReactPodcastSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4O6gOT7eoMxf5M7qy3HVMpApple:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/vc-react-podcast/id1764834384---Guests:1. Basil Moftah, Managing Partner @ Key Capital- LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/basilmoftah/ - Company Website: https://www.key.capital/ 2. Nada Shaheen, Managing Director @ GB Ventures - LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nadashahen/ - Company Website: https://gb-corporation.com/---#siliconvalley # mena #startups #vc #lp #tech #investments #entrepreneurship #venturecapital #venturedebt #privateequity #finance #business #ipo #acquisitions #limitedpartners #accelerator #saas #data #software #deeptech #ai #fintech #edtech #cvc #web3 #crypto #blockchain #defi #impact #sanfrancisco #sanjose #boston #seattle #austin #nyc #riyadh #dubai #amman #cairo #qatar ---Sponsors: 💸This week’s episode is brought to you by:- OCTA – the AI-powered accounts receivable platform trusted by hundreds of companies like Careem, Lean Technologies, and ZenHR to automate collections, resolve disputes, and unlock financing with zero hassle. Visit: www.weareocta.com/fwdstart to get your first 6 months free.---News of the week brought to you by FWDstart.This Week On The VC React Podcast:- First up: Goldman Sachs, Charles Schwab, and Morgan Stanley are on a private-markets shopping spree, buying Industry Ventures, Forge Global, and EquityZen to own the pipes for late-stage venture and secondaries. Are we watching the true mainstreaming of secondaries and pre-IPO access?- Next, Dubizzle has pulled its planned IPO in the UAE, adding to a growing list of Gulf tech listings that never happened, or traded badly once they did. Is this just a timing blip, or a clear signal that we’re not ready for Tech IPOs yet? Should founders and investors look more seriously at secondaries and private liquidity instead of IPOs now?- Then we’ve got an Egypt-to-global deeptech story: GlobalFoundries snapping up Cairo-based InfiniLink just months after its $10 million seed round. ---(أحمد طقاطقه)---
Dec 8, 2025 • 41min
VC React SV E2: OpenAl's Power Loop with Thrive, America's Chip Gambit, and Apple's Al Reset
VC React Podcast - Silicon Valley:Every week, we bring you insights and reactions from top VCs, LPs, & Angel Investors, reacting to the latest news on Silicon Valley startups, funds, and investment rounds. ---Hosts: Ahmad Takatkah, VCpreneur. Sign up to VCpreneur Newsletter on https://www.vcpreneur.com/Jamie Lane, FWDstart. Sign up to FWDstart Newsletter on https://archives.fwdstart.me/ ---Available on:Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/@VCReactPodcastSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4O6gOT7eoMxf5M7qy3HVMpApple:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/vc-react-podcast/id1764834384---Guests:1. Joe Alalou, General Partner @ Daring Ventures- LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephalalou/- Company Website: https://hello.daringventures.vc/---#siliconvalley # mena #startups #vc #lp #tech #investments #entrepreneurship #venturecapital #venturedebt #privateequity #finance #business #ipo #acquisitions #limitedpartners #accelerator #saas #data #software #deeptech #ai #fintech #edtech #cvc #web3 #crypto #blockchain #defi #impact #sanfrancisco #sanjose #boston #seattle #austin #nyc #riyadh #dubai #amman #cairo #qatar ---News of the week brought to you by FWDstart.This Week On The VC React Podcast:- First up: OpenAI is taking a stake in Thrive Holdings — a services rollup already backed by one of OpenAI’s biggest investors, and built directly on top of OpenAI’s models. Are we watching brilliant ecosystem design that turbocharges enterprise AI… or a circular deal-making loop, that locks everyone else out of the club?- Next, the U.S. government is writing a $150 million check into xLight, a lithography startup trying to become a homegrown alternative to ASML. Is this smart industrial strategy or is America trying to run a playbook it can’t stick with long enough to win?- And finally, Apple has hired a senior AI leader from both Google and Microsoft to replace its retiring head of AI. Is this a true reset that puts Apple back in the AI game, or is it too late for founders to treat Apple as anything more than a nice secondary channel behind OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic.
Nov 29, 2025 • 42min
VC React MENA E59: xAI & HUMAIN Deal, Founders Fund Invests In Mnzil, Strataphy & Buildroid DeepTech
VC React Podcast - MENA:Every week, we bring you insights and reactions from top VCs, LPs, & Angel Investors, reacting to the latest news on MENA startups, funds, and investment rounds. ---Hosts: Ahmad Takatkah, VCpreneur. Sign up to VCpreneur Newsletter on https://www.vcpreneur.com/Jamie Lane, FWDstart. Sign up to FWDstart Newsletter on https://archives.fwdstart.me/ ---Available on:Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/@VCReactPodcastSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4O6gOT7eoMxf5M7qy3HVMpApple:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/vc-react-podcast/id1764834384---Guests:1. Ali Almajthoob, Partner at Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP)- LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alialmajthoob/- Company Website: https://www.mevp.com/2. Hala Zahran, Head of AB Xelerate (ABX)- LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/halazahran/- Company Website: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ab-xelerate/---#siliconvalley # mena #startups #vc #lp #tech #investments #entrepreneurship #venturecapital #venturedebt #privateequity #finance #business #ipo #acquisitions #limitedpartners #accelerator #saas #data #software #deeptech #ai #fintech #edtech #cvc #web3 #crypto #blockchain #defi #impact #sanfrancisco #sanjose #boston #seattle #austin #nyc #riyadh #dubai #amman #cairo #qatar ---Sponsors: 💸This week’s episode is brought to you by:- OCTA – the AI-powered accounts receivable platform trusted by hundreds of companies like Careem, Lean Technologies, and ZenHR to automate collections, resolve disputes, and unlock financing with zero hassle. Visit: www.weareocta.com/fwdstart to get your first 6 months free.---News of the week brought to you by FWDstart.This Week On The VC React Podcast:- xAI and HUMAIN team up on a 500MW data centre in Saudi. Is this the start of an AI corridor with Silicon Valley—or just giga-scale marketing with insane power numbers?- Founders Fund makes its first lead bet in Saudi with Mnzil. Is this a one-off “tourist” deal, or the beginning of a long-term GCC thesis from top US funds?- Climatetech finally feels real: Strataphy is using geothermal cooling to cut data centre energy bills in half. Is this just climatetech—or the hidden AI infrastructure that will power the region’s superclusters?- And Finally, Robots hit the construction site. Buildroid AI is rolling out block-laying robots in the UAE. In markets built on cheap labour, will construction robotics actually make economic sense? ---(أحمد طقاطقه)---
Nov 29, 2025 • 48min
VC React SV E1: Quantum VCs, Founders Fund Invests In Mnzil, Gemini Dethrones ChatGPT, New AI Device
VC React Podcast - Silicon Valley:Every week, we bring you insights and reactions from top VCs, LPs, & Angel Investors, reacting to the latest news on Silicon Valley startups, funds, and investment rounds. ---Hosts: Ahmad Takatkah, VCpreneur. Sign up to VCpreneur Newsletter on https://www.vcpreneur.com/Jamie Lane, FWDstart. Sign up to FWDstart Newsletter on https://archives.fwdstart.me/ ---Available on:Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/@VCReactPodcastSpotify:https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/vc-react-podcastApple:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/vc-react-podcast/id1764834384---Guests:1. Charles Beyrouthy, Managing Partner at Forma Prime | A Semiconductor and Quantum Early-Stage VC Firm- LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlesbeyrouthy/- Company Website: https://www.formaprime.vc/---#siliconvalley # mena #startups #vc #lp #tech #investments #entrepreneurship #venturecapital #venturedebt #privateequity #finance #business #ipo #acquisitions #limitedpartners #accelerator #saas #data #software #deeptech #ai #fintech #edtech #cvc #web3 #crypto #blockchain #defi #impact #sanfrancisco #sanjose #boston #seattle #austin #nyc #riyadh #dubai #amman #cairo #qatar ---News of the week brought to you by FWDstart.This Week On The VC React Podcast:- Founders Fund makes its first lead bet in Saudi with Mnzil — a workforce housing startup! Is this a one-off “tourist” deal, or the beginning of a long-term GCC thesis from top US funds?- Then we move to the model wars: The narrative in the Valley has flipped: everyone’s saying Google is now ahead, founders are suddenly rethinking their stack to move from OpenAI to Gemini. How much should founders actually care who’s ‘ahead’ right now, versus who’ll be stable and affordable over the next decade?- And finally, in hardware: Sam Altman and Jony Ive say they finally have an AI device prototype. Is this actually the next computing platform… or just another gorgeous gadget looking for a use case?
