News

YallaHub Teams Up With Lapochka For Future UAE Expansion

The quick-commerce as a service platform will allow the drink producer to distribute its revolutionary AI-generated lemonade in new UAE markets.

Published

2 years ago

April 16, 2024

Nour Nasir

YallaHub

YallaHub, a leading “quick-commerce as a service” (QAAS) platform, has partnered with drinks producer Lapochka to add artificial intelligence to its product development and aid plans for UAE expansion. The partnership will utilize YallaHub’s full suite of services, including fulfillment, logistics, payment gateway integration, customer support, and last-mile delivery.

Lapochka recently hit the headlines after launching a groundbreaking AI-generated lemonade. The company’s beverage makers used a neural network to analyze consumer preferences, sales data, and reviews to craft the perfect soft drink recipe. The resulting concoction sticks to the brand’s commitment to natural ingredients and features an eye-catching “robot apple” design concept.

“We are constantly seeking methods to surprise and delight our customers with unique and innovative products,” explained Lapochka CEO Anton Balyklov. “This AI-created beverage allows us to introduce consumers of all ages to the latest technologies in a fun and delicious way. Partnering with YallaHub empowers us to potentially expand our reach and share this exciting innovation with a wider audience in the MENA region”.

Also Read: Lebanese Newspaper Builds AI President To Beat Political Crisis

The partnership between YallaHub and Lapochka aims to push the boundaries of the beverage industry. With a strong focus on natural ingredients and refreshing taste, the new AI-designed beverage should also be a perfect fit for the booming UAE drinks market — projected to hit $23.2 billion in value by 2025.

By combining Lapochka’s new-found expertise in AI-driven product development with YallaHub’s established MENA presence, the collaboration could potentially revolutionize consumer experience across the region. By the end of 2024, Lapochka plans to establish itself in several major UAE marketplaces, hoping to achieve sales of over 100,000 cans per year.

Related Topics:Artificial Intelligence YallaHub

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Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon

Foreign visitors will be the first users to benefit, but whether Syria’s own banks and cardholders follow is still an open question.

Published

6 days ago

August 27, 2026

Dana Saadeh

visa's return to syria starts with a test and a bank in lebanon

Visa is returning to Syria. Its first live international card transaction in the country was a test rather than a launch, and the milestone event ran through a Lebanese bank.

The acquirer (the bank on the merchant’s side of a card payment) was Fransabank Lebanon, with Paymera as the other named partner. Nadim Moujaes, who heads a Fransabank Group subsidiary, describes the test as both the culmination of “longstanding efforts to link Syria back to international payment networks” and “the first step in a larger path”.

Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa makes the first electronic payment in Syria using a @Visa card at a store in Damascus, following the lifting of US sanctions on Syria. pic.twitter.com/lpAN7nQ6Fc

— Tech Magazine (@TechMGZN) August 27, 2026

“We are excited to have successfully tested live transactions today as we plan to enable international visitors to use their Visa cards while in Syria,” says Leila Serhan, Visa’s senior vice president and group country manager for the North Africa, Levant and Pakistan region. Although a significant first step, that plan doesn’t come with a hard date for when a visitor’s card will work normally.

Mohammed Safwat Raslan, governor of the Central Bank of Syria, says the test paves the way for international card acceptance in Syria and that maintaining strong compliance, risk management and operational controls will remain essential. Serhan likewise stresses that Visa has worked within applicable legal, regulatory and compliance requirements. For a test transaction, it seems there was a great deal of attention paid to the rules, with the entire operation being carefully managed.

Also Read: Lebanon’s 5G Era Begins With 150 Stations And A $1M Budget

The test is the latest step in a sequence that began in December 2025, when Visa announced a strategic roadmap to support Syria’s integration into the global digital economy. In February 2026 it hosted its first industry gathering of banks, ecosystem partners and policymakers in Damascus and, the same month, signed an agreement with Syria’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in San Francisco.

Michel Kattouah, Paymera’s CEO, called the test “the return of international card acceptance,” but while that’s positive news, there’s no word yet on when a Syrian bank will issue a Visa card to a Syrian customer.