Since its founding in 2022, InfiniLink developed groundbreaking Silicon Photonics integrated optical transceiver chiplets (iOTC) technology. The funding will enable the company to advance its mission of transforming data center connectivity leveraging its deep expertise in Analog Mixed-Signal and Photonics. As AI workloads and data-intensive applications drive an exponential rise in bandwidth demands, traditional electrical and optical interconnects are hitting power and scalability limits. InfiniLink’s iOTC technology addresses these challenges by enabling low-power pluggable transceiver modules and high-bandwidth-density co-packaged optical engines (CPO). These solutions provide ultra-high-speed, energy-efficient data connectivity essential for the next generation of AI-driven data centers.

“Collaborating with MediaTek will be instrumental in advancing our vision for cutting-edge optical connectivity solutions,” said Ahmed Aboul-Ella, Co-founder and CEO of InfiniLink. “With this strategic partnership, we look forward to accelerating the commercialization of our innovative technologies. We believe it will make a significant impact on data center optical connectivity.” added Aboul-Ella.

“We are thrilled to be part of InfiniLink’s journey. Over the past three years, our partnership has been very successful, culminating in the establishment of MediaTek Egypt. We look forward to further scaling our collaboration in the region with this investment,” said George Chien, Senior General Manager, MediaTek.

“At Sukna Ventures, we are proud to partner with InfiniLink. Their groundbreaking optical connectivity technology, engineered by an exceptionally skilled team, addresses AI’s relentless energy demands in data centers. This innovation perfectly aligns with our mandate to empower high-potential startups from the MENA region, and we are committed to supporting their international scaling efforts,” said Waleed Alballaa, General Partner at Sukna Ventures.

“With the combined expertise of our investors, we are well-positioned to accelerate product development, expand globally, and meet the surging demand for AI-driven connectivity solutions.” concluded Ahmed Aboul-Ella.

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The payments landscape in the MEA is highly fragmented. Each country has tens of payment providers and methods, developing payment regulations, limited economic integration with other markets, and a diverse set of customer preferences and market dynamics.

The complexity of the ecosystem is compounded by the region’s susceptibility to payment fraud, low checkout conversion rates, and increased transaction failures. “COVID certainly boosted the adoption of digital payments in the region, but the infrastructure remains significantly underdeveloped. In MEA, payment failure rates are three times the global average, and fraud rates and cart abandonment are over 20% higher than in all other regions. This places merchants in a challenging position, viewing payments as a cost and risk center rather than a strategic enabler,” says Nader Abdelrazik, co-founder and CEO of MoneyHash.

Abdelrazik adds, “However, the opportunity is enormous. MEA’s trillions of dollars in payments are still less than 10% digital, suggesting the region will experience the most growth over the next decade. Merchants who navigate the complex payment ecosystem effectively will reap significant benefits. This is where MoneyHash steps in.”

MoneyHash offers a comprehensive payment operating system as a service to address the various technological and product challenges faced by enterprise merchants. Elena Panchenko, the Chief Product Officer of MoneyHash, emphasizes, “Payment challenges are intertwined. Rather than merchants juggling between solutions and in-house fixes, we offer a versatile suite to address current and future challenges simultaneously.”

MoneyHash’s product includes a unified API to integrate pay-in and pay-out rails, a fully customizable checkout experience, transaction routing capabilities with fraud and failure rate optimizers, and a centralized transaction reporting hub. This is complemented by tools enabling various use cases such as virtual wallets, subscription management, and payment links.

Elena adds, “An integrated set of solutions is essential for enterprise merchants to address challenges comprehensively and explore opportunities freely. The infrastructure is powered by over 200 pre-integrated APIs with payment service providers and payment methods across 80+ markets. This not only offers merchants maximum flexibility and coverage but also helps us gain the trust of our customers, knowing that all scenarios and implementations fall within our expertise.”

MoneyHash product promises a 10-20% increase in revenue generation and a 90% decrease in development cost.

In 2023, MoneyHash doubled its network of integrations, achieved triple revenue, and grew its processing volume by 30x. It also landed large enterprise customers shortly after its October launch.

Amir Farha, Managing Partner at COTU, stated, “We firmly believe that the full potential of digital payments in MEA is yet to be realized. MoneyHash developed a sophisticated and high-quality platform that can catalyze the growth of digital payments across the region, enabling both global and local merchants to tap into new revenue streams.

We are thrilled to renew our support to a team that has consistently demonstrated superior execution, not just in securing top mid-market and enterprise customers, but also in expanding value across the entire chain, even under challenging market conditions.”

Asher Siddiqui, General Partner at Sukna Ventures, expressed, “In the rapid digital transformation of the region, part of Sukna’s fundamental thesis is to back exceptional teams that are pioneering transformative infrastructures in specialized sectors. The team at MoneyHash embodies this vision, consisting of skilled payment operators who have leveraged their expertise to establish a competitive edge, prioritizing engineering precision above all else. Their product, refined with precision and supported by a stellar team, is exceptionally well-positioned to lead the market and define the future of digital payments in the region.”

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The start-ups brought innovative business ideas transforming how traditional services work through cloud communication solutions in multiple sectors like logistics, drop shopping, travel, tutoring, social communities, digital marketing, and more.

Supported by exclusive banking partner Riyadh Bank, the Demo Day took place at the Riyadh Bank SME Center based on a hybrid format, allowing the start-ups to present their business concepts physically or virtually. Teams pitched to a prominent panel comprising senior management from Sukna Ventures and Unifonic, alongside program supporter’s representatives from the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), the General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises (Monsha’at), plus a large group of potential investors and business leaders.

After announcing ‘Unifonic X’ in June, 27 participants from several countries, the majority from Saudi Arabia and others including Egypt, Jordan, the UAE, and USA were selected from hundreds of applications and onboarded to the 14-week program, which started in September. Over the past few months, they have undertaken a series of hands-on learning activities, incorporating live workshops, individual mentoring sessions, online tuition, and internal pitches, empowering them to build impactful, successful, and sustainable ventures.

Some significant successes saw TeamUp sign an agreement with the Ministry of Sports, building a solid foundation for future leads, while AlGooru secured a pre-seed round and Logexa secured a seed round, strengthening their positions as they take their companies forward.

The executive teams from Sukna Ventures and Unifonic were actively engaged in mentoring activities and feedback sessions with the start-ups. Additionally, teams had access to a broad range of local and international industry experts as guest speakers and mentors in the fields of investment, finance, law, sales, and marketing. These included Chris Neumann (Commonwealth Ventures),  Danya Bashir (Arqaam), Hamzah Nassif (Real Ventures), Mike Sigal (Global Start-up Advisor), Pedram Mokrian (Global Innovation Catalyst), Sandeep Kher (Sequoia Capital), and Sebastien Toupy (Global Strategist) among others.

“At Unifonic, we believe it’s crucial to give back to the community that helped us make such a positive impact. With our partner Sukna Ventures, and the backing of our sponsors, we will take it to the next level by empowering an ecosystem that fosters innovation and drives a steady stream of ideas to attract investments and ensure sustainable development for a prosperous future,” said Ahmed Hamdan, Co-founder and CEO of Unifonic.

Fares Bardeesi, Founder and Managing Partner of Sukna Ventures explained: “Our ‘Unifonic X’ participants have worked extremely hard over an intense 14-week period of theoretical learning and practical skills application. As this stage of their journey comes to an end, we’re incredibly proud of their engagement and achievements to date. New opportunities are opening up, and each company has a promising future ahead, built on the same high standards and commitment they have demonstrated so far. At Sukna Ventures, we remain focused on contributing to the entrepreneurial ecosystem, and we’re very much looking forward to supporting the ventures as they develop their businesses further.”

Following the Demo Day, selected participants will be provided with assistance to facilitate their next stage of growth, including the coordination of meetings with potential investors and partners from the Demo Day, access to funding, and business support from Sukna Ventures and Unifonic. Other benefits cover technical support and guidance from AWS activate, complimentary enrollment into an international accelerator program, complimentary coworking facilities, legal support, and discounted annual Zoom licensing. Testament to the high level of interest and successful outcomes, subsequent ‘Unifonic X’ cohorts are being considered for the future.

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Designed to enable ambitious entrepreneurs to transform their ideas into successful businesses, this unique program structure provides a full spectrum of knowledge, skills and support to participants allowing them to learn, implement, and iterate proven company-building concepts. In addition to offering experiential learning, incorporating global best practices and peer-to-peer collaboration, Unifonic X will facilitate access to a strong network of experts and investors to help entrepreneurs bring their ideas to market and expedite market entry.

Set to be delivered in three phases, the program will guide up to 30 aspiring entrepreneurs, and team them up, to focus on further developing and validating 10 venture ideas. At the end of the program, the ventures will participate in the Demo Day, presenting their validated business concepts to prospective partners, angels and institutional investors, to lead the next phase of their growth.

Designed around the Global Innovation Catalyst (GIC) Innovation Execution (iX) program, Unifonic X combines a unique set of resources that offers the candidates access to Silicon Valley experiences, world-class experiential education from one of the top universities in the world, a strong regional network and funding.

With the aim of empowering entrepreneurs to build impactful, successful, and sustainable ventures, the program includes virtual live workshops by certified instructors, experienced global mentors, and guest lecturers.

Powered by Sukna Ventures and Unifonic, Unifonic X is supported by key partners including the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises (Monsha’at) and Amazon through its AWS Activate program.

Open to all entrepreneurs ready to launch their ventures, the program will facilitate registration through Unifonic X’s website.

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