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  • Capital

EXCLUSIVE: How GCC fund managers test startups, pick sectors and follow crisis money

GCC fund managers have no shortage of capital to place. The harder question is what deserves it. One Stride Ventures report puts

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Mubadala's $250 million investment
  • Mubadala

Mubadala’s $250 million investment now anchors Moove, the mobility company building the operating layer for driverless transport. The Series C round it led values the firm at $2.1 billion. Woven Capital, Toyota’s Growth Fund, and Ion Pacific co-led it. For the UAE, the deal ties a sovereign backer to a company that wants to run the fleets behind self-driving cars.

The money follows a clear plan. Moove will expand its autonomous vehicle business, own more fleets, and build robotics-first depots it calls Nests. These sites charge, service, and maintain driverless cars around the clock. Fresh capital will also open new markets. Mubadala’s $250 million investment gives the company the balance sheet to move faster. The company announced today, 5th of August, the investment and the company’s vision of the company further.

Inside Mubadala’s $250 million investment

BlueCrest Capital Management, Sona Asset Management, and The Raptor Group came in as new backers. They sit alongside earlier investors such as BlackRock, MUFG, Franklin Templeton, and Uber. The Moove Series C funding builds on a stake Mubadala first took three years ago. Ali Eid AlMheiri, Executive Director of Diversified Assets at Mubadala’s UAE Investments Platform, said the fund backs scalable platforms that support economic diversification and strengthen the country’s role as a hub for advanced technologies.

Ali Eid AlMheiri, Executive Director of Diversified Assets, UAE Investments Platform at Mubadala, said: “Mubadala is investing in enabling infrastructure and scalable platforms like Moove that support economic diversification and strengthen the UAE’s role as a hub for advanced technologies. Since Mubadala’s initial investment three years ago, Moove has been a great partner, and we are glad to continue partnering with Moove in its next phase of growth.”

What does that mean for you? Mubadala’s $250 million investment places public capital behind a bet on autonomous mobility. If the bet pays off, the UAE gains a stake in how driverless transport scales worldwide.

The Waymo fleet partnership

Moove already runs cars for Waymo. Its Waymo fleet partnership covers live operations in Phoenix and Miami, with London named as the first step abroad. Self-driving firms write the software. Moove handles the work they would rather avoid, the cleaning, charging, and repair of every vehicle. That split lets each side focus on what it does best. Moove is also Uber’s largest global fleet partner, which widens its reach across the ride-hail market.

The autonomous vehicle fleet business carries real risk. Owning cars in an unsettled market ties up capital for years. Moove is betting its operating skill will hold that risk steady as fleets grow.

From Lagos to a $2.1 billion valuation

Ladi Delano and Jide Odunsi started Moove in 2020 with 76 cars in Lagos. The company now runs about 42,000 vehicles across 29 cities in 13 countries and reports $420 million in annual recurring revenue. It employs 3,300 people and has grown through deals such as Kovi in Brazil and Tokyo Taxi in Japan. The Moove $2.1 billion valuation shows how far that base has stretched.

Ladi Delano, Co-Founder, Co-CEO and Advisory Board Chairman of Moove, said: “Every major technology revolution becomes an infrastructure race. The internet required data centres. AI required compute. Autonomy requires fleets, charging, maintenance, data systems and 24/7 operations in every city – and that is what Moove is building. In our view, as autonomy scales, infrastructure ownership and operations will define the category leaders. We are building to be one of them. 

From our anchor in the UAE, and backed by long-term strategic capital, Moove now has the platform to help take autonomy from breakthrough technology to everyday transportation. This is not a departure from our mission; it is the fullest expression of it.”

What comes next

Hiring tells the story. Moove plans to grow its autonomous workforce from about 150 people to about 500 by the end of the year, a rise of more than 220%. That pace shows where the company sees demand. Mubadala’s $250 million investment signals the same view: that owning and running fleets will decide who leads.

Autonomous mobility is expected to shape logistics, public transport, and city planning over the coming years, though the timeline stays uncertain. For riders and investors, the message is plain. The firms that own and run driverless fleets may matter as much as the ones writing the code.

  • 4 min read
$6B on Food in Turkiye
  • Tourism

Tourists spent close to $6B on food in Turkiye in the first six months of 2026, and dining now stands as the largest single category of visitor spending in the country. Figures from the Turkish Statistical Institute, known as TurkStat, put food and drink spending at $5.9 billion between January and June. That total ran about 9% above the $5.43 billion recorded over the same stretch a year earlier.

The wider picture helps explain why this number matters. Türkiye tourism revenue 2026 reached $25.75 billion across the first half, and food carried a larger share of that figure than any other category. The pattern fits a longer shift in how the country earns from travel. Visitors are spending more at the table, and regional cuisine has become a direct source of income rather than a background detail.

Why food leads $6B in Turkiye

Turkey food and beverage spending climbed as travelers worked through a broad menu of local dishes. Doner, pide, lahmacun and home-style cooking drew steady demand across different parts of the country. Each region offers its own version of these staples, which gives repeat visitors a reason to keep eating out.

The rise in dining revenue tracks the amount visitors put toward regional food while traveling. TurkStat tourism data shows the category holding its lead through the period, a sign that culinary interest is now a fixed part of the trip for many arrivals rather than an occasional expense.

Shopping follows food in visitor spending

Retail took the next large share of tourist spending in Turkey. International visitors spent roughly $2.2 billion on clothing and footwear during the first half of the year. Souvenir purchases brought in a further $890.2 million over the same window.

Together, clothing and souvenirs added about $3.1 billion to the total. That places shopping well behind dining but ahead of the smaller categories, and it points to a spending mix weighted toward food and personal goods.

Smaller categories round out the total

Some categories stayed below the billion-dollar mark. Revenue from sports, education and cultural activities came to nearly $249 million between January and June. Spending grouped under other categories added about $618 million to Türkiye tourism income in the first half.

The gap between these figures and the near $6B on food in Turkiye shows how concentrated visitor spending has become. Dining alone accounts for close to a quarter of the country’s total tourism revenue for the period. For a sector that once leaned on accommodation and sightseeing, the strength in food marks a real change in where the money lands. The trend also gives regional restaurants and local producers a steady flow of foreign currency, tying the wider tourism economy more closely to what visitors choose to eat.

  • 3 min read
Abu Dhabi's Disneyland business impact
  • Business

Abu Dhabi’s Disneyland business impact will reach far past the park gates, and the whole Gulf is watching. Disney plans to open its first Middle East park on Yas Island in the early 2030s. Six years is a long runway. Yet developers, hoteliers and property owners are already lining up for what comes next.

The region’s attractions industry runs at roughly $19 billion, and Disney lands as the anchor everyone else builds around. Picture a shopping mall. One big-name store pulls the crowd, and the smaller shops nearby live off the overflow. That is the bet behind Abu Dhabi’s Disneyland business impact right now.

Why care about a 2030s opening today? Because the money moves first. Land deals, hotel plans and hiring pipelines take shape years ahead of a ribbon cutting.

One park, a full regional pull

Mike Rigby, regional vice president and director of the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, sees room for everyone. Parks will compete at times, he said, but the pie can still grow for all of them. It is not a zero-sum game.

The other parks in the GCC will likely serve a more regional set of tourists, Rigby said, with Disney the anchor. “I think the GCC, the Mena region as a whole, is coming to the point where we can go for two weeks to the Middle East, and there is plenty to do,” he said.

Disney carries the brand and the gravity. Rivals across the Gulf are moving too. Saudi Arabia is building Qiddiya, an entire theme park city. Bahrain has set its sights on the Six Flags brand. Qatar is lining its coast with large waterparks. Rigby likened the emerging cluster to Orlando, where visitors hop between attractions over several days. That kind of spread is what could push Abu Dhabi tourism into a longer, multi-stop trip.

When the park was announced last year, Disney chief Bob Iger called the emirate the crossroads of the world. He pointed to half a billion potential customers within a four-hour flight. No firm Disneyland Abu Dhabi opening date exists yet, though the company has pointed to the early 2030s.

Abu Dhabi’s Disneyland business impact on homes and jobs

The clearest signal so far shows up in housing. On Yas Island, the annual rent for a one-bedroom apartment climbed from AED55,000, about $15,000, in 2023 to AED92,000 this year. That is a 67 percent jump, according to government figures. Authorities stepped in with a rental freeze earlier this year to cool prices. Yas Island real estate has become a live test of how fast one project can move a market.

Work follows the walls going up. Beyond the rides, the project could create more than 30,000 Disneyland Abu Dhabi jobs across construction, operations and tourism services, according to estimates from staffing group TASC. The roles would span hospitality, retail, food service and ride operations, the kind of work that keeps hiring long after opening day.

What comes next for the region

Domestic visitors give the sector a cushion. Regional conflict can dent arrivals, Rigby said, but many attractions here target local families who still need things to do. People stay, and they keep spending.

Aldar, Abu Dhabi’s government-owned developer, told AGBI last year it expects to gain from the park. Entertainment can anchor the real estate, the population and the hospitality around it, Rigby said, and the rest tends to follow. The full Abu Dhabi Disneyland business impact will take years to land. The groundwork is being laid today.

  • 3 min read
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