Stryde Acquires Qora71 to Boost Angel Investing in Abu Dhabi

Malaz Madani

Last updated 23-06-2025

3 min

Stryde acquires Qora71, rebranding it as Stryde71 to expand venture capital opportunities.

Qora71 quickly amassed 130 angel investors, facilitating over $2 million in investments.

Founder Youssef Salem joins Stryde as a Partner, aiming to scale operations exponentially.

This merger enhances Abu Dhabi's position as a hub for tech startup investments.

The UAE focuses on becoming a global innovation centre with growing VC opportunities.

Whenever a promising startup gets snapped up in the MENA region, it always grabs our attention at Arageek. And here’s a deal that's bound to turn a few heads in the UAE investment scene: the digital investment platform Stryde has just made a significant move, acquiring angel investing network Qora71.

If you’re familiar with Abu Dhabi’s startup scene, you'll probably have heard of Qora71. Launched only five months ago with backing from Hub71’s Angel Investor Support Package, this network grew like wildfire, attracting a vibrant community of over 130 angel investors. In that short time—it sounds unbelievable I know—they've facilitated more than 50 investments totalling over $2 million, with another million dollars lined up and raring to go. Not bad going, I'd say.

Now, Qora71—under its new branding as Stryde71—will form one of several verticals within Stryde’s broader ecosystem. Alongside its other arm, Stryde Sports, Stryde71 aims to widen access to venture capital investment opportunities, enabling both professional and retail investors to dip their toes into the venture space. Retail investment into startups? Just a few years ago, this idea would have seemed a touch far-fetched. Well… I mean, things change quickly in this part of the world.

At the helm of Qora71 was founder Youssef Salem, who now steps in as a Partner at Stryde. His goal from the beginning, he says, was always clear: empowering exceptional startup founders by providing them essential capital, vital connections and improved market access—all with guidance from committed angel investors.

Stryde’s Co-founder, Hadi Halabi, heaped praise upon Salem and Qora71, pointing out that the quick turnaround at Hub71 under Salem’s leadership was \"nothing short of inspirational.\" Salem responded in kind, saying that combining Qora71 with Stryde makes it possible to scale their vision \"exponentially.\" (I reckon he's got every reason to feel pretty chuffed about it all.)

Stryde is regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) and, significantly, Stryde71 places it squarely inside Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). This positions the company ideally to tap into both local and global investment pools, offering a polished platform for new founders seeking capital for early- and growth-stage companies.

As Basma Ahmed AlBadi AlDhaheri, Head of Value Creation at Hub71, noted, this development is a natural progression from Qora71’s impressive early successes. She added that this merger aligns perfectly with Abu Dhabi's ambition of boosting its venture ecoystem (keep an eye out… see what I did there?), providing easier access to much-needed capital for startup founders.

Clearly, the deal reinforces Abu Dhabi's rising status as a genuine hub for early-stage investing in tech startups, something that's becoming increasingly evident day by day. And believe it or not, we’re starting to see a significant shift in how individual investors—small or big—approach venture capital opportunities. And frankly, it’s long overdue.

The UAE, it seems, is dead set on becoming a global innovation centre. If acquisitions like Stryde's latest move and other recent signs of momentum are anything to go by, they're definately heading in the right direction.

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