Foras.ai Backs WAYA Media to Ignite MENA’s Bilingual Business Reporting

There’s a fresh move in the region’s business media scene, and it could quietly reshape how startup stories are told across MENA. Founders Media, the company behind WAYA Media, has secured a strategic investment from Abu Dhabi-based Foras.ai, with plans to scale its bilingual business coverage across Egypt, the Gulf and wider Middle East.

The deal was advised and facilitated by Exits MENA, an investment advisory boutique in which Foras.ai holds a stake. Exits MENA focuses on supporting startups and SMEs with structuring and executing transactions, which, in this case, helped bring both sides to the same table.

WAYA Media, for those who follow the entrepreneurship space closely, has built its name as a bilingual platform publishing in both English and Arabic. It covers venture capital, technology, financial markets and the broader economic forces shaping the region. Beyond editorial, the company runs two commercial arms: WAYA Works, its branded content division, and WAYA Studio, which provides editorial production services to clients across the region. The company was co-founded by Gamal Helmy and HOF Capital, a New York-based tech investment firm managing more than $7 billion in assets.

The new capital will be deployed in three main directions. First, expanding the editorial and operational teams as coverage grows. Second, investing in more data-driven journalism to provide deeper analysis rather than just headline updates. And third, accelerating video production and experimenting with new formats to reach audiences across different platforms. In a media landscape where everyone is fighting for attention on feeds that refresh by the second, that last point feels spot on.

Foras.ai is not just writing a cheque and stepping back. Its founder, Mohamed Aboulnaga, widely known as Nagaty, has built one of the region’s most engaged professional audiences. His involvement is expected to extend WAYA’s reach within the MENA business community, while Foras.ai will also support commercial expansion, particularly for WAYA Works and WAYA Studio. The ambition, as shared publicly, is to build what could become the region’s largest distribution network for media and financial communication. No small feat, but then again, the appetite for quality business content in Arabic and English has been growing steadily.

Helmy said the partnership arrives at the “right moment”, emphasising that WAYA was founded on the belief that the region deserves rigorous, independent business journalism in both languages. Aboulnaga described the collaboration as a natural evolution in a media environment increasingly shaped by AI and nonstop information flows. Onsi Sawiris, Co-Founder and Partner at HOF Capital, noted that the original backing of WAYA was based on a belief that the team could build something genuinely differentiated in an underserved market, adding that Foras.ai’s network could help cement its position across the Arab world.

I’ve seen firsthand, through countless conversations with founders in Cairo, Riyadh and Dubai, how hungry entrepreneurs are for credible, bilingual reporting that actually understands their context. At Arageek, we’re constantly reminded that telling our own stories, in our own voice, isn’t just nice to have, it’s essential. Building a serious media platform in this region is no walk in the park; it’s hard graft. But when the right partners come together, things can move quickly.

On the flip side, media is a tough business, full stop. Monetisation can be a bit of a faff, and scaling without losing editorial quality is easier said than done. That said, having a strategic investor that brings distribution muscle as well as capital could tilt the odds in WAYA’s favour.

With Foras.ai already holding stakes in Exits MENA and the crowdfunding platform Beban, this latest move extends its portfolio into business media. For WAYA, the next chapter is about scale, more reporters, more data, more video, and, if all goes to plan, a firm grip on the bilingual storytelling space that’s long felt underdeveloped.

Whether this partnership will truly turn WAYA into the definitive source for business news in the Arab world remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: the regional media race is heating up, and this investment definately adds fuel to the fire.

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