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.
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 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
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.
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.
Also Read: Logitech’s New Folding Mouse Is Designed For Work On The Go
“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.
