Proptech is having a moment in the Middle East. A flurry of deals among some of the biggest property technology players in the region amid a glut of real estate development projects in the Gulf has prompted capital data platform Magnitt to ponder: Is this a proptech bubble? 

Saudi Arabia and the UAE in particular are driving the action. The total value of real estate projects currently planned or under construction stands at an estimated $1.68 trillion, up from $1.38 trillion a year earlier, according to commercial real estate firm CBRE.

Saudi Arabia accounts for 63.1% of the total or some $1.06 trillion, followed by the UAE, which at $409 billion, accounts for 24.4% of the total.

This week Dubai-based property marketplace startup Huspy announced a new funding round led by London VC firm Balderton Capital – with participation from Fifth Wall at a higher valuation than its Series A in 2022 – bucking a broader trend of downward value corrections.

Huspy, which has offices in Madrid, is planning a European expansion and a mobile app with more features. Property Finder, another Dubai-based property portal, closed a $90 million buyback deal with Francisco Partners earlier this month, allowing original backer BECO Capital to exit with the Dubai property portal valued at more than $1 billion, according to Founder Michael Lahyani. 

Proptech up-and-comers have also closed deals: UAE-based rent-now-pay-later platform Keyper raised $4 million in a pre-Series A round and received $30 million in sukuk financing.

And Egypt’s Birdnest, a startup that develops technology for real estate investors, announced the close of a pre-Series A funding round led by Beltone Venture Capital and CI Venture Capital.

Still, startups take off from a low base of funding deals and smaller check sizes amid the global downturn in venture capital activity.

Real estate venture funding in the Middle East, Pakistan and Turkey dropped 78% year-on-year in 2023, according to Magnitt.

“There’s definitely energy in the region for proptech investments, but whether the VC space will reflect the broader industry growth remains to be seen,” Magnitt CEO Philip Bahoshy wrote in a note today. 

The PGA Tour’s deal with the Public Investment Fund’s LIV Golf “is far from dead,” The New York Times’ DealBook reports.

Term sheets have been exchanged between the North American pro tour and the Saudi sovereign wealth fund “in recent days,” according to reporter Lauren Hirsch.

Under the proposed deal, the PIF would pour $1.5 billion into the tour’s for-profit arm.

In January, Fenway Sports made a $1.5 billion investment in the PGA, with participation from hedge funder Steven Cohen and fellow billionaires Marc Lasry and Arthur Blank, who took a minority stake in the commercial unit of the tour.

The current deal up for negotiation would give the tour $3 billion in new funding, with the Saudis and U.S. investors each chipping in half.

The PGA Tour would retain majority control. What the term sheet does not resolve is what would become of LIV Golf under the agreement. 

G42, the UAE artificial intelligence firm led by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, is establishing a foothold in Africa, building on its blossoming relationship with Microsoft.

The Abu Dhabi-based firm announced that, in collaboration with Microsoft, it will invest $1 billion in Kenya to strengthen the East African country’s digital foundations.

The joint initiative, unveiled in Washington D.C. on Wednesday during a state visit by Kenyan President William Ruto, includes building a geothermal-powered data center to run Microsoft Azure cloud computing services in East Africa.

G42 and Microsoft will also work with Kenyan partners to develop local-language AI models, create training programs to teach AI skills and establish an East Africa Innovation Lab.

Microsoft signed an agreement last month to invest $1.5 billion in G42, giving it a seat on the AI company’s board with Sheikh Tahnoon, the brother of UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed who also serves as UAE National Security Advisor and Chairman of sovereign wealth funds ADQ and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

President Joe Biden will hold a state dinner at the White House for the Kenyan leader tonight, after pledging on Wednesday to bolster the 60-year relationship between the two countries and “transform millions of lives – I mean, literally, millions of lives” with technology partnerships.

Meg Whitman, the U.S. Ambassador to Kenya and former CEO of eBay and Hewlett Packard who escorted Ruto in Washington, is profiled by Politico this week on her efforts to deepen U.S. business ties with Africa.

At the Africa CEO Forum in Kigali, Rwanda, meanwhile, Mohammad Ali Rashed Lootah, President and CEO of Dubai Chambers, pitched the emirate’s competitive advantages on Wednesday as a business partner for African firms looking to operate in the Gulf and use it as a springboard for further-flung business activities.

In the face of doomsayers who see artificial intelligence as wiping out jobs, Dubai is launching a campaign to make human involvement a key part of its approach to AI.

The Dubai Future Foundation unveiled its “One Million Prompters” project on Tuesday that aims to create a bounty of jobs for residents trained in the growing field of prompt engineering.

The work centers on using the best terms to make AI systems handle tasks most efficiently.

“We aim to prepare, develop and empower competencies with the skills needed to harness the potential of AI applications to advance innovation, progress and economic growth,” said Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, Chairman of the Executive Council of Dubai, and Chairman the DFF.

Separately, UAE Minister for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications Omar Al Olama said in an interview with Reuters that, following Microsoft’s $1.5 billion investment in Abu Dhabi-based AI firm G42, he expects more joint AI investments between his country and the U.S.

Saudi Arabia is getting set to put its stamp on the global gaming market this summer when it hosts the Esports World Cup over eight weeks in July and August.

Boulevard Riyadh City will be the venue for the competition’s debut from July 4 to Aug. 25. More than 2,500 players are expected to compete for a $60 million prize pool, the largest in esports history.

German esports entrepreneur Ralf Reichert is CEO of the host organization, the Esports World Cup Foundation, a nonprofit established in 2023 and based in Riyadh. 

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, said to be a devotee of the Call of Duty zombie military game, has earmarked $38 billion from the Public Investment Fund – with the aim of attracting 250 gaming companies and studios while creating 39,000 video game-related jobs in the process.

The homegrown strategy builds on the kingdom’s credentials in the e-arena with investments in the biggest players like Tencent, Nintendo, Activision Blizzard and Ubisoft.

In March, Saudi Arabia’s National Development Fund and the Social Development Bank announced the establishment of two venture capital funds with a combined value of $120 million to back new esports companies in the kingdom.

One gaming executive who was attracted to the region is Will Dalio, the son of billionaire hedge funder Ray Dalio, who opened an outpost of his family office in Abu Dhabi last year.

The young Dalio is using Abu Dhabi as a market to grow his educational game-making company, Endless Studios.

He told The National’s Business Extra podcast that Gulf residents are some of the most active gamers in the world but have little hand in video games’ creation.

“There’s no creation here. We believe that should be bridged,” Dalio said.

ADNOC, the UAE’s state-owned energy company, is looking toward the U.S. to expand its international footprint and help propel future growth.

The Abu Dhabi-based company, ranked as the world’s 12th-largest oil producer, signed an agreement with NextDecade to buy an 11.7% stake in its liquified natural gas project located in Texas.

ADNOC did not disclose the value of the deal, which is its first strategic investment in the U.S.

The Emirati company is also working on setting up an energy trading desk in the U.S., Reuters reported last week.

The NextDecade deal comes two months after Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s ADNOC-backed alternative energy company, bought a 50% stake in California-based Terra-Gen, one of the largest private renewable energy producers in the U.S.

The American market is a key part of Masdar’s strategy to develop or acquire an energy portfolio of at least 100 GW capacity by 2030.

Saudi Arabia’s Future Aviation Forum entered its second day after tallying 47 separate deals worth $19 billion.

Leading the dealmakers was Saudia Group, which owns flag carrier Saudia Airline and low-cost flyadeal, announcing an order with Airbus on Monday for 105 narrow-body aircraft.

The deal for an undisclosed price was described as the largest purchase ever from a Saudi airline. Saudia’s Airbus order was a setback for Boeing, which has yet to close a deal being negotiated with the kingdom’s new airline, Riyadh Air.

Other transactions included national air service agreements, aircraft orders, cargo and logistics, advanced air mobility, human capability, information technology, and maintenance, repair and overhaul agreements.

Abdulaziz Al-Duailej, President of the Saudi General Authority on Commercial Aviation, called the forum’s first day a “tremendous success, in terms of commercial deals, policy initiatives and agreements to elevate global connectivity.”

RedBird IMI completed its $1.45 billion acquisition of All3Media, the largest independent production company in the U.K., after receiving approval from British, U.S. and German regulators.

Under the agreement, Jeff Zucker, CEO of Abu Dhabi-backed RedBird IMI, becomes All3Media’s chairman, while All3Media CEO Jane Turton will continue to lead the company.

The London-based studio, which is jointly owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and Liberty Global, has 50 production labels, including Studio Lambert, Raw, Two Brothers Pictures, Silverback Films, New Pictures and Neal Street Productions.

Redbird IMI gave up on its bid to take over London’s Telegraph newspaper last month after encountering vigorous government opposition.