Started with the purpose of solving parking problems in the city of Dubai, co-founder and CEO Craig McDonald, along with co-founder Harrison Jones, launched YallaParking in the UAE. The service allows you to rent out someone's car space on-demand, or earn from renting out your space to a fellow user.

French startup Side raised another $5.7 million with Xavier Niel leading the round. As the name suggests, Side lets students make some money on the side by working for companies for a few days or weeks. It’s a marketplace that helps you scale your workforce for a product launch, peak season and more.

With the spotlight shining bright on MENA entrepreneurs amid a spate of recent fundraising wins, the ecosystem is taking note, and seems to be raising the stakes for the region’s startups. This year’s GITEX Startup Movement, the entrepreneurship track part of GITEX Technology Week to be held on October 8-12, 2017 at Dubai World Trade Centre, has set aside a massive prize fund of US$180,000 to reward tech startups in 14 categories, as part of its pitch competition. Not just that, the tech entrepreneurship-focused event also expects to host over 700 startup exhibitors (2016 edition brought 430 startups) from 75 countries, and over 250 regional and global investors, owing to the rising buzz around digital innovations in the region.

Visa has expanded its Everywhere Initiative, a fintech innovation challenge in search for the next big innovation in financial technology and payments technology to startups in the Middle East and North Africa.

Smarke is the easiest way to share secure, scheduled access to your rental property with your guests – instantly and remotely. No key required.

Keyless Entry for Hosts and Guests 

Smarke is specifically designed to meet the needs of property managers, hosts and guests on platforms such as Airbnb and HomeAway.