Classera, a San Francisco-based ed tech startup focused on the Middle East and Africa, raised a $40M Series A led by Sanabil, which is run by Saudi Arabia’s PIF (Yousef Saba/Reuters)

Yousef Saba / Reuters:
Chainalysis: MENA was the fastest-growing crypto market between July 2021 and June 2022, with transaction volume up 48% YoY to $566B; North America grew 36%  —  The Middle East and North Africa are the world’s fastest-growing cryptocurrency markets, with the volume of crypto received …

Paresh Dave / Reuters:
Ex-Twitter employee Ahmad Abouammo is sentenced to 3.5 years in prison, after being found guilty in August 2022 of spying for Saudi Arabia by sharing user data  —  A former Twitter Inc manager convicted of spying for Saudi Arabia was sentenced to 3-1/2 years in U.S. prison, prosecutors said on Wednesday.

Stephen Totilo / Axios:
Saudi Arabia’s Savvy Gaming Group says it plans to invest $37.8B in gaming to expand the kingdom’s role in the sector, including $18B for minority investments  —  Saudi Arabia’s government-funded gaming conglomerate The Savvy Gaming Group will invest $37.8 billion in gaming as part …

Emily Olsen / MobiHealthNews:
Miami-based Brave Health, a Medicaid-focused virtual mental health care provider, raised a $40M Series C, bringing its total funding to $60M  —  The company announced a $10 million Series B raise last year.  —  Virtual mental health company Brave Health scooped up $40 million in a Series C funding round led by Town Hall Ventures.

Peter Guest / Insider:
A look at Saudi Arabia’s Kollona Amn app, launched in 2017 to let its citizens inform on activists, as the country expands the use of surveillance technology  —  – Saudi Arabian citizens are reporting activists that speak out against the government on the Kollona Amn app.

Globes Online:
AutoLeadStar, which provides AI-powered marketing automation technology to car dealerships and manufacturers, raised $40M led by Riverwood Capital  —  The Israeli company provides AI-powered marketing automation technology to auto-dealerships and manufacturers.