Founders Media, the parent company of WAYA Media, has announced a strategic investment from Foras.ai, a move that accelerates the platform’s capacity to scale its bilingual coverage of business and startup news across Egypt, the Gulf, and the broader MENA region.
The transaction was advised and facilitated by Exits MENA, an investment advisory boutique in which Foras.ai holds a stake. The firm is focused on supporting startups and SMEs across the region through deal structuring, advisory, and execution.
WAYA Media is a bilingual business and startup news platform serving founders, operators, and investors across Egypt, the Gulf, and the broader MENA region. Published in both English and Arabic, the platform covers venture capital, technology, financial markets, and the forces shaping the region’s economic future. WAYA also operates two commercial divisions: WAYA Works, a branded content arm, and WAYA Studio, an editorial production service for regional clients. WAYA Media was co-founded by Gamal Helmy and HOF Capital, a New York-based technology investment firm managing over $7bn of AUM.
The investment will be deployed to strengthen three areas of the business: expanding WAYA Media’s editorial and operational team as the platform grows its coverage and output; deepening its data-driven content capabilities to deliver richer, more analytical journalism to readers and clients; and accelerating the development of video content and new product formats that extend WAYA Media’s reach across platforms and audiences.
Foras.ai brings more than capital to the partnership. Its founder, Mohamed Aboulnaga (Nagaty), commands one of the most engaged professional audiences in the region, and his involvement will meaningfully amplify WAYA Media’s reach and visibility across the MENA business community. Foras.ai will also play an active role in expanding WAYA Media’s commercial network, supporting business development for WAYA Works and WAYA Studio as the platform grows its client base across Egypt and the Gulf. The partnership reflects a shared conviction that quality business and startup journalism, delivered bilingually and built for the region’s growing professional class, represents one of the most significant media opportunities in the Arab world today.
Reflecting on the platform’s origin and this new chapter, Gamal Helmy, Co-Founder & CEO of WAYA Media, stated: “WAYA was built on the belief that the MENA region deserves business journalism that is rigorous, independent, and built for the audience it serves, in both languages. Nagaty and his team understand the vision and bring the network and reach to accelerate what we are building across editorial and commercial. This is the right partner at the right moment.”
Foras.ai Founder Mohamed Aboulnaga (Nagaty) noted that the partnership is a natural evolution for the region’s media ecosystem: “In an era where audiences constantly refresh their feeds to stay informed, and where AI has leveled the landscape of company creation, our ambition is to build the region’s largest distribution network for media and financial communication. Gamal and the WAYA team have built an impressive platform, one they should be proud of. I would also like to thank Onsi Sawiris, Gamal Helmy, and all shareholders for welcoming us as partners. We look forward to complementing each other’s strengths as we take WAYA Media to the next level.”
Onsi Sawiris, Co-Founder & Partner at HOF Capital, echoed this sentiment, noting that the investment marks a turning point for the platform’s market position: “We backed WAYA at the start because we believed in the team’s ability to build something genuinely differentiated in a market that was underserved. Nagaty and Foras.ai bring the reach and commercial network to turn WAYA into the definitive source for business news across the Arab world, and I’m excited to see what this next chapter delivers.”
About WAYA
WAYA Media is a bilingual business and startup news platform covering the investment, technology, and entrepreneurship landscape across the Middle East and North Africa. Through its English and Arabic platforms, WAYA Media and WAYA Arabi, the company delivers news, analysis, and on-the-ground storytelling designed to make complex business topics accessible and relevant to a new generation of founders, operators, and investors. Beyond reporting, WAYA operates two commercial divisions: WAYA Works, a branded content arm producing sponsored editorial and content partnerships, and WAYA Studio, which offers white-label editorial production and content strategy services to regional clients.
About Foras.ai
Foras.ai is an Abu Dhabi-based investment platform focused on building and holding stakes in high-growth, technology-driven businesses across emerging markets. The firm takes a disciplined, research-led approach to identifying opportunities where strong execution, sound governance, and intelligent systems intersect to create durable value. Foras.ai partners actively with founders and management teams, going beyond capital to support strategic growth and long-term performance. The firm holds stakes in Exits MENA, an Egyptian investment advisory boutique, and Beban, a crowdfunding platform, and, through its investment in Founders Media, extends its portfolio into business media.
