News

BitOasis Secures $30 Million In Funding To Accelerate Growth

BitOasis currently allows its users to buy and sell more than 20 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Ripple.

Published

5 years ago

October 14, 2021

David Morelo

bitoasis secures $30 million in funding to accelerate growth

BitOasis, the largest cryptocurrency platform in the MENA region, has successfully raised $30 million in a Series B round to accelerate its growth while ensuring high standards of regulatory compliance.

The platform was founded in 2015 by Ola Doudin, and it’s headquartered in the United Arab Emirates. Thanks to its founder’s visionary ability to predict the increasingly important role cryptocurrencies are playing in the world, it had been perfectly positioned to take advantage of the cryptocurrency boom.

The funding round was co-led by Chicago-based VC firm Jump Capital, along with Wamda, the largest growth stage fund in the MENA region. Other investors that joined in include Alameda Research, Global Founders Capital, Pantera Capital, Digital Currency Group, and NXMH.

“The company perfectly embodies the elements we seek when investing in international crypto exchanges,” says Peter Johnson, a partner leading Jump Capital’s crypto strategy. “An exceptional team that deeply understands the market, a focus on regulatory compliance, and an ability to build a leading consumer brand”.

According to the official funding announcement, BitOasis wants to solidify its presence and refine its product offering in the countries the cryptocurrency platform already operates in while also expanding to nearby countries. BitOasis is also building strategic partnerships with the public sector to raise awareness around crypto safety, one of the biggest roadblocks to its wider adoption.

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“Our latest investment round serves as a vote of confidence in the BitOasis growth story,” commented Ola Doudin. “It further speaks to the state of interest in the MENA region’s growing crypto ecosystem, with global investors and venture capital heavyweights backing the region’s home-grown businesses”.

BitOasis currently allows its users to buy and sell more than 20 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Ripple, with UAE Dirham (AED) and Saudi Riyal (SAR). To start trading, all that users have to do is sign up, verify their identity, and securely deposit funds through one of the supported options.

News

LUVED Is A New Curated Preloved Marketplace For The UAE

Sellers keep 100 percent of every sale and AI can build a listing in five seconds — though the app’s smartest tools are still coming.

Published

4 hours ago

June 16, 2026

Joanna Melki

luved is a new curated preloved marketplace for the uae

Secondhand shopping has become mainstream in the UAE, but the experience is still scattered across resale sites, social media and informal group chats. LUVED, a mobile-first marketplace that launched in Dubai this month, is betting it can pull that activity into one place — and that the thing buyers and sellers actually want is not more inventory, but trust.

The app trades in what it calls circular luxury: preloved fashion and lifestyle pieces across men’s, women’s and children’s categories, bought, sold or given away peer to peer. Its main pitch is economics, with sellers keeping 100 percent of every sale under a zero-commission, fast payout model, while buyers are promised vetted pieces at lower prices.

Where LUVED is staking its reputation is verification. Sellers pass a KYC check, and items run through a two-layer authentication system powered by Entrupy that pairs instant AI screening with human expert review for high-value pieces. Authenticity certificates travel with each item, payments sit in escrow, and a buyer-protection package the company calls The Safety Net adds a 48-hour return window and dispute resolution. Door-to-door logistics removes the in-person meetups that make most resale deals awkward.

An in-app assistant called Luvbot — offering selling insights and demand-based recommendations — is soon to be introduced to the platform. Other features include autofill and dynamic pricing that lets users build a listing in as little as five seconds from three photos, plus a swipe-based feed, story-style drops and in-app chat in English and Arabic. Finally, a gifting layer, Luved & Gifted, lets users pass items to others inside the app rather than sell them.

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“After moving to Dubai, I saw how difficult it was to sell or even give things away,” says founder and CEO Shaima Sibtain. The friction is real, and so is the competition. In resale, trust is won transaction by transaction — and that is the test LUVED has set itself.

The app is live on the App Store now, with Google Play to follow. The company also plans to expand across the region, which will be the real test for a marketplace staking everything on trust.