Scaleup Arabia: Journeys & Lessons from Top Founders & Leaders Driving Growth in MENA

Ready to scale your startup beyond the messy middle? Scaleup Arabia is your real-world, field-tested guide to building fast, resilient, and sustainable companies—especially in complex, high-growth markets. From the bestselling author of Startup Arabia and Ecosystem Arabia, this powerful sequel takes you into the trenches where the region’s top founders learned to scale—not from textbooks or generic frameworks, but through lived experience and real growing pains. Amir Hegazi—former Director of Souq.com’s marketplace (acquired by Amazon), and trusted advisor to startups, governments, VC firms, and top global and regional universities—brings together firsthand lessons from 15 of the Middle East and North Africa’s most influential entrepreneurs across diverse sectors and markets. You’ll meet the builders behind Talabat, Careem, Tamara, Kitopi, Yassir, Trella, Property Finder, and more—founders who turned friction into fuel, navigating regulation, culture, and capital to scale against all odds. Inside, you’ll learn: How founders built scalable systems in ecosystems still catching up What it really takes to raise capital in a maturing VC landscape When to expand, when to double down—and how to decide How leaders evolved their style as their companies 10x’d What it truly means to "localize" and adapt to a regional market The most common scaleup mistakes—and how to avoid them No abstract fluff. No boring theory. Just real strategies and hard-earned lessons from founders who’ve lived it, scaled it, and are now sharing it—right here in Scaleup Arabia. Whether you're a founder, investor, or startup operator anywhere in the world, Scaleup Arabia will empower you to dream—and build—bigger and bolder. Editorial Reviews “Scaleup Arabia is a definitive guide to navigating the messy middle—when startups must evolve from hustle to structure, and speed to scale.” —David Cohen, Founder and Chairman of Techstars “In a region racing toward digital transformation, Scaleup Arabia captures the heart of innovation in action.” —Tim Draper, Founder of Draper Associates and DFJ