baraka (YC S21)

🚀 Meet #baraka AI – your instant, AI-powered trading assistant. What used to take hours now takes seconds—track trade signals, get real-time market analysis, and receive strategic, data-driven insights without the noise. Stay ahead of the market with guidance designed to help you trade smarter.

The future of investing is here. Our Founder and CEO, Feras Jalbout, shared how FinTech is transforming market accessibility, empowering more individuals to participate in the financial world at the Majlis Mohamed bin Zayed, attended by HH Sheikh Khaled bin Zayed, for Jim Marous’ lecture, The Future of Finance in the Age of Intelligence—a thought-provoking discussion on AI’s evolving role in finance and investing. The conversation featured insightful perspectives from Abdallah Al Mansoori, Managing Partner at I3H Investment, and Hana Al Rostamani, Group CEO at First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB). Exciting times ahead as technology continues to reshape the financial landscape.

Honored to have our Founder & CEO, Feras Jalbout, speak at Majlis Mohamed bin Zayed, attended by HH Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, for 💯 Jim Marous' lecture, The Future of Finance in the Age of Intelligence, discussing AI’s evolving influence on finance and investing. يشرفنا أن يكون المؤسس والرئيس التنفيذي لشركة بركة، فراس جلبوط، متحدثًا في مجلس محمد بن زايد، بحضور سمو الشيخ خالد بن زايد، وذلك خلال محاضرة جيم ماروس بعنوان “مستقبل التمويل في عصر الذكاء“، حيث تمت مناقشة التأثير المتنامي للذكاء الاصطناعي على عالم المال والاستثمار.

🌙 This Ramadan, our team is ready to give back. We were honored to join VentureSouq and The Giving Family in distributing free meals, making a small yet meaningful impact. It was a humbling experience to come together with incredible teams, including our own at baraka, and contribute to the spirit of giving. Shoutout to our team for always stepping up and making a difference!

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The Saudi IPO market is primed for significant momentum in 2025, bolstered by strong investor sentiment and improved regulatory frameworks, according to industry experts. Highlights from 2024 Success 💪 Strong Start: Almoosa Health and Nice One set the stage in January, with Nice One closing 30% higher on debut and raising SAR 1.2 billion ($323.4 million). 💪 Diverse Pipeline: Approved IPOs include United Carton Industries, Entaj, Derayah Financial, Ejada Systems, and Umm Al Qura, with others like Tabby and SAMACO Motors rumored to follow. 💡 Market Growth Analysts predict 50–60 IPOs over the next two years, with seven already approved and 97 under review. The inclusion in indices like MSCI and FTSE has attracted institutional capital and over 3,500 foreign-qualified investors. Key Drivers 👉 Larger IPOs: The first quarter of 2025 could see IPOs totaling SAR 8–11 billion, matching the robust averages of prior years. 👉 Economic Policies: Recent bond and Murabaha credit facilities raised $19 billion, reflecting Saudi’s strategic financial planning. Saudi Arabia’s capital market evolution and strategic initiatives position it as a key player in regional and global IPO activity, underscoring its commitment to attracting foreign direct investment and fostering economic growth.

Elon Musk's xAI launches stand-alone app Grok 🚀 Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup, xAI, has debuted its first stand-alone consumer app, "Grok," in the Apple App Store, expanding beyond its initial integration with the X social media platform. 💪 Standalone App: Previously available only through X, the Grok chatbot can now be accessed independently via the new app, currently offered for free in its beta version. 💪 Beta Introduction: The app's description on the Apple App Store highlights its beta status and limited availability to U.S. users. 💪 AI Model Advantage: Powered by xAI’s proprietary language model, Grok 2, the chatbot benefits from real-time data access via X, a feature Musk claims distinguishes it from competitors. Musk emphasizes Grok as a "less politically correct" alternative to rivals like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google Bard. 💡

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Anthropic Nears $2B Funding at $60B Valuation 🚀 AI startup Anthropic is in advanced talks to raise $2 billion, pushing its valuation to $60 billion, more than triple its worth from a year ago. Here are the details: 💪 Lead Investor: Lightspeed Venture Partners heads the round. 💪 Market Position: Anthropic would become the fifth-most valuable U.S. startup, behind SpaceX, OpenAI, Stripe, and Databricks. 💪 Comparative Valuations: OpenAI’s October funding round valued it at $157 billion. Anthropic’s annualized revenue recently hit $875 million, primarily from business sales. Investors remain optimistic about AI's transformative potential despite high costs and competition. 🤝 Amazon: A close partner, Amazon has committed $8 billion since 2023, with a $4 billion investment in November. 🤝 Google: Also a significant backer, Anthropic operates in Amazon and Google data centers. Claude, its chatbot competes with OpenAI’s ChatGPT but is more popular among programmers and businesses. The funding signals Anthropic’s growing prominence as it competes in the high-stakes generative AI race. 💡

Mashreq Completes Majority Stake Sale in Neopay 💸 Mashreq Bank has finalized the $385 million sale of a majority stake in Neopay, a UAE-based leader in digital payments, to DgPays, a financial infrastructure provider, and Arcapita Group Holdings, a global investment firm. Key Highlights: 🚀 Mashreq’s Role: Retains a significant minority stake to continue supporting Neopay’s growth. 🚀 Strategic Goals: The partnership aims to scale Neopay’s operations, expand into new markets, and enhance its innovative offerings across the Middle East. 🚀 Collaboration: The deal reflects a shared commitment to innovation and growth in the digital payments sector. This milestone transaction positions Neopay to capitalize on regional opportunities and strengthen its role in shaping the future of digital payments.💡