News

UBQT Closes Pre-Seed Funding, Welcomes IQ Sayed As CTO

The Dubai-based AI-powered social app has secured $750,000 in investments and is now set to expand its feature set and user base.

Published

2 years ago

February 26, 2025

Nour Nasir

ubqt closes pre-seed funding and welcomes i.q. sayed as cto

UBQT (pronounced Ubiquity), a UAE-based AI-powered social app designed to bring people together in real life, has successfully closed its pre-seed funding round. After securing $750,000 in investments, the company will now be able to expand operations, begin new feature development, and help grow its user base.

Since its launch in January 2024, UBQT has quickly grown in popularity, amassing nearly 5,000 organic downloads and forging key partnerships with the likes of GITEX, Step Conference Dubai, The Offline Club, and Emotion Network in Milan. With fresh funding in hand, the company remains focused on its mission: helping people reduce their screen time and build more meaningful, real-world connections.

ubqt new cto i.q. sayed

UBQT has also welcomed IQ Sayed as its third co-founder and Chief Technology Officer. A seasoned technologist with an impressive track record at Meta and Careem, Sayed brings invaluable expertise in scaling digital products and will soon become the driving force in UBQT’s next phase of expansion as it sets out to disrupt traditional social networking models.

“We are absolutely thrilled to close this funding round and to have IQ join us,” said Jonathan Hasson, Co-Founder of UBQT. “This is just the beginning. With the new funding and IQ on board, we’re ready to build an even better platform that champions meaningful, real-world interactions. We’re also looking ahead to our upcoming Seed round this spring, which will enable us to scale further and enhance the user experience”.

Also Read: Foodics Acquires Online-Ordering Specialist & Invests In 3 Startups

With Sayed on board, UBQT enters an exciting new chapter. The powerhouse team will soon begin to enhance the platform’s technological capabilities, scale its user base, and solidify UBQT’s position in the consumer tech space.

Learn more about UBQT on their website and download the app which is available for both Android and iOS.

News

Trip.com Is Betting An AI Agent Will Book Your Next Vacation

Abu Dhabi, Jazeera Airways and a run of hotel deals give the company more inventory. Its Mastercard demo says the most about where booking technology is headed.

Published

2 days ago

September 16, 2026

Nour Nasir

trip.com is betting an ai agent will book your next vacation

Most of what Trip.com Group announced at Arabian Travel Market 2026 this week reads like the standard expansion playbook of an online travel agency: a new agreement with a tourism board, a run of hotel partnerships, an airline deal. However, one item was considerably more interesting: a demonstration built with Mastercard of an AI agent that doesn’t just suggest trips but also pays for them.

trip.com tripgenie ai agent

The showcase put TripGenie, the company’s AI travel assistant, to work searching, selecting and completing purchases inside a single booking flow, with Mastercard’s Agent Suite for Merchants handling the payment step and Network International processing the transactions on the merchant side. It’s limited for now to attractions and ancillary services, but the partners plan a phased commercial rollout from early 2027.

“As traveller expectations change, technology and AI will play an increasingly important role in how people plan their journeys,” says Schubert Lou, CEO of Trip.com.

Meanwhile, in more conventional news, CEO Lou and Saleh Mohamed Al Geziry (Director General for Tourism at the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi), signed an agreement building on the two organizations’ existing partnership, with joint marketing and Abu Dhabi destination content to be pushed across Trip.com Group’s platforms.

Also Read: Musk’s Boring Company Wants To Dig 150 KM Of Tunnel Under The UAE

On accommodation, the group expanded its partnerships with JA Hotels & Resorts, Ishraq Hospitality and Aleph Hospitality and deepened its work with Silkhaus, which brings vacation homes into a portfolio that has so far leaned on hotels. Jazeera Airways signed a strategic partnership intended to widen the Kuwaiti carrier’s reach and encourage earlier bookings, tied to Kuwait’s own tourism ambitions.

The company moved into a larger Dubai office earlier this year and describes its long-term aim as a two-way ecosystem: sending Middle East travelers abroad while drawing international visitors in.