CompassPoint Consulting has formalised a strategic partnership with CGI, the Dubai-based compliance and governance consultancy, to support growing businesses across the UAE and GCC with integrated financial, compliance and governance advisory.

The partnership brings together two complementary areas of expertise that are increasingly critical for companies operating in fast-moving regional markets.

CompassPoint Consulting provides fractional CFO leadership, financial planning and analysis, cash flow forecasting, reporting automation, operational transformation and senior finance support.

CGI provides senior-led compliance, governance, AML, KYC and regulatory advisory services, helping businesses strengthen their frameworks, manage complexity and make clearer decisions in regulated and non-regulated environments.

Together, the two firms will support clients across both their financial and regulatory needs, helping founders, leadership teams, family offices and growth-stage companies access senior expertise without the cost or complexity of building every capability in-house.

For many businesses across the UAE and GCC, financial discipline and regulatory readiness are often treated as separate workstreams. Forecasting, cash flow visibility, profitability, governance, AML, KYC and regulatory preparedness may be handled by different advisers, at different times, with limited coordination between them. The new CompassPoint and CGI partnership has been designed to close that gap.

Through the partnership, clients will be able to access CompassPoint’s CFO-level finance insight alongside CGI’s execution-focused compliance and governance support, creating a more joined-up approach to business decision-making, risk management and sustainable growth.

Zaid Aboobaker, Founder and CEO of CompassPoint Consulting, said: “Growing businesses in the UAE and GCC are operating in markets with enormous opportunity, but opportunity also brings complexity. Founders and leadership teams need clarity on their numbers, their cash position, their forecasts and their growth plans. At the same time, they need to understand their governance responsibilities, regulatory obligations and compliance risks.

“Our partnership with CGI reflects the way we believe advisory support should work. Businesses do not need disconnected advice. They need senior people who understand their objectives, can work together, and can help them make practical decisions with confidence. By combining CompassPoint’s fractional CFO and strategic finance capability with CGI’s compliance, AML, KYC and governance expertise, we can support clients across a much broader part of their journey.”

CGI is a boutique consultancy built around client-led decision-making, discretion and senior accountability. With a focus on the UAE market and international capabilities, CGI supports businesses, individuals and family offices in complex situations where structure, pace and execution are essential.

Jamie Killilea, Partner and Head of Global Compliance at CGI, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with CompassPoint Consulting. Our two firms bring highly complementary skillsets, but we also share a similar view of what clients need from advisers: clarity, accountability, practical judgement and work that can be executed.”

Mike Foster-Dalporto, Partner and COO at CGI, added:  “Compliance, governance, AML and KYC are no longer issues that businesses can treat as administrative or reactive. They are central to how companies protect value, maintain trust and create the conditions for sustainable growth. By working with CompassPoint, we can help clients connect the financial and regulatory sides of their business more effectively.”

The partnership forms part of CompassPoint Consulting’s wider strategy to partner with companies whose services complement its own. The firm is actively building a network of specialist advisory partners to give clients access to a broader range of high-quality support across finance, operations, governance and business growth.

Zaid added: “Our clients are building, scaling and navigating complexity in one of the world’s most dynamic business regions. They need trusted relationships around them, but they also need those relationships to be coordinated. This partnership is about giving clients access to the right expertise, at the right time, through a practical and joined-up advisory model.”

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UAE-based startup Taggy, a fashion resale platform, today announced it is entering its next phase of growth with a clear goal: to make buying and selling pre-loved fashion more effortless, intelligent, and accessible in the Middle East.

As the UAE continues to embrace more conscious ways of shopping, Taggy is positioned at the intersection of fashion, technology and sustainability. The platform encourages users to extend the life cycle of clothing, unlock the value of pieces they no longer wear and access quality fashion at more affordable price points.

While interest in resale continues to grow globally, selling fashion online can be time-consuming. Sellers often need to photograph items, write descriptions, set prices, respond to enquiries, manage packaging, and coordinate delivery. Buyers, meanwhile, can face inconsistent listings, limited search tools, slow delivery and uncertainty around product quality.

The need for more circular fashion solutions is increasingly urgent. The fashion industry is a major contributor to global emissions: the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change estimates that fashion contributes around 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions due to long supply chains and energy-intensive production. In the UAE, the shift towards more responsible consumption aligns with the country’s wider sustainability agenda, including its Net Zero 2050 Strategy and Circular Economy Policy 2021–2031, which promote resource efficiency, waste reduction and more sustainable consumption models. By helping users extend the life of clothing already in circulation, Taggy supports a more conscious way of shopping that reduces waste, encourages reuse and makes sustainable fashion choices more accessible.

Through AI-assisted listing tools, personalised shopping recommendations, secure payments, buyer protection and fulfilment-led services, the platform makes resale as easy and reliable as shopping new. For sellers, Taggy simplifies the process of turning unworn pieces into earnings. The platform’s listing technology can help generate product titles, descriptions, categories, style tags and pricing recommendations, reducing the effort required to list items. Sellers can choose to self-list through the app, while Taggy’s longer-term service model includes additional support such as virtual listing, in-person listing, and professional photography.

For buyers, Taggy offers a curated shopping journey. The platform learns from each user’s favourite brands, sizes, style preferences, wishlists and shopping behaviour to create a personalised discovery experience.

“Taggy was created to make resale feel effortless,” says Mark Leeming, Co-Founder of Taggy. “Our goal is to build the region’s most intelligent fashion marketplace, one that uses technology to remove the friction from selling, buying and discovering pre-loved fashion. By making resale easier, more trusted and more accessible, we can help build a future where sustainable shopping becomes the first choice, not the alternative.”

Taggy is now inviting UAE residents to explore the platform, list their pre-loved pieces and discover a smarter way to shop second-hand.

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Tally Solutions today announced the launch of TallyPrime 7.1, which introduces three key enhancements for UAE businesses: e-Invoicing readiness, direct EmaraTax-powered VAT compliance, and enhanced invoice personalization, helping organisations align with the country’s evolving digital ecosystem while continuing to operate with simplicity and confidence.

As one of the few business management software providers offering direct integration with the EmaraTax portal, Tally continues to simplify tax and compliance workflows for businesses across the UAE. Businesses using TallyPrime for VAT e-return filing have experienced an average improvement of over 17% in filing efficiency through direct API-based integration with EmaraTax.

A key highlight of the latest update is comprehensive support for UAE e-Invoicing workflows. TallyPrime 7.1 offers a guided onboarding journey, from initial setup through EmaraTax registration, helping businesses become e-Invoicing ready through a simple and intuitive process.

Built-in validations proactively identify missing or incorrect information before invoices are exchanged, helping improve accuracy and ensuring smoother interactions with the e-Invoicing ecosystem.

Businesses can choose between instant invoice exchange and bulk processing based on their operational requirements, while bilingual support in English and Arabic ensures ease of adoption across the UAE’s diverse business community. To further strengthen security, TallyPrime 7.1 incorporates two-factor authentication fore-Invoice exchange, adding an additional layer of protection through OTP-based verification and helping safeguard business transactions from unauthorised access.

As an FTA-accredited solution for VAT filing, TallyPrime 7.1 further strengthens its connected compliance capabilities through direct integration with the EmaraTax portal. Users can securely access filing statuses, download and reconcile Customs Import and Tourist Refund Scheme data, compare VAT returns against their books, and submit VAT 201 returns directly through TallyPrime.

By bringing compliance workflows closer to day-to-day business operations, the release enables businesses to maintain greater accuracy, visibility, and control over their tax processes. For organisations maintaining accurate accounting records, VAT returns can typically be prepared in less than five minutes using TallyPrime’s built-in VAT reporting capabilities.

The release also introduces a substantially enhanced invoice personalisation experience, enabling businesses to create invoices that reflect their unique identity while maintaining the trust and credibility associated with a Tally invoice. With a range of modern,customisable invoice templates, businesses can personalise invoices with logos, signatures, watermarks, and business-specific information, allowing them to express their brand in a way that is uniquely their own. The result is an invoice that reflects boththe business’s identity and Tally’s consistency, professionalism, and credibility.

Commenting on the launch, Vikas Panchal, Senior General Manager – MENA, Tally Solutions, said, “The UAE continues to set a strong benchmark in driving digital transformation initiatives that are creating a more connected and future-ready business environment. As businesses prepare for the next phase of the country’s e-Invoicing journey, they needtechnology that not only supports evolving requirements but also works the way they do. With TallyPrime 7.1, we have focused on helping businesses embrace this transition with confidence through e-Invoicing readiness, connected compliance through direct EmaraTax integration, and greater flexibility in everyday business operations. By bringing these capabilities together in a single experience, we are enabling businesses to participate more effectively in the UAE’s digital economy while staying focused on growth.”

The launch comes at a pivotal moment as businesses across the UAE prepare for a more digitally connected business and compliance ecosystem. Through TallyPrime 7.1, Tally Solutions continues its commitment to building technology that adapts to the way businesses operate, helping them simplify operations, stay aligned with evolving regulatory requirements, and confidently participate in the UAE’s digital economy journey.

TallyPrime 7.1 is now available for businesses across the UAE. Existing customers can seamlessly upgrade to the latest release and immediately access the new e-Invoicing, connected VAT compliance, reconciliation, security, and invoice personalisation capabilities.

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Cloudflare and beehiiv announced a strategic partnership to redefine the creator economy and how independent creators interact with AI. By integrating Cloudflare’s advanced Crawl Control technology directly into the beehiiv platform, the partnership equips creators with clear visibility and granular control over how AI models use their work.

As AI models evolve to offer new forms of search and discovery, independent creators are looking for flexible ways to understand and manage how their content is accessed. This integration simplifies the process by letting beehiiv users manage their digital footprint through two clear choices: publishers can either opt-in to maximum discovery to allow AI search engines and agents to crawl their work freely for broader distribution, or choose content protection, blocking AI scraping to preserve their archives for future monetization and licensing opportunities.

“Cloudflare is dedicated to protecting and enabling content creators, from independent bloggers to the world’s largest publishers,” said Matthew Prince, co-founder and CEO of Cloudflare. “As the Internet evolves, our commitment remains the same: ensuring creators have the tools they need to thrive. This partnership with beehiiv is the next logical step in that mission, giving newsletter operators the transparency and control to navigate the AI era on their own terms, whether they are optimizing for discovery or preserving their work for future opportunities.”

“beehiiv was built to support creator independence,” said Tyler Denk, co-founder and CEO of beehiiv. “As AI changes how people find and consume content, publishers need real leverage. Our partnership with Cloudflare gives creators the data and controls they need to either maximize discovery and distribution, or protect their writing and dictate their own terms.”

Managing AI bots historically required complex technical engagement, like manual robots.txt updates or firewalls. This partnership removes those technical hurdles, giving publishers of all sizes–from large media outlets to individual creators–the ability to easily set automated preferences. Key features of the integration include:

• Personalized Analytics: Creators get an on-platform dashboard powered by Cloudflare APIs. This shows exactly which AI crawlers are attempting to access their content, which ones are being blocked, and the referral traffic those crawlers send back to the newsletter.
• One-Click Toggle Permissions: The ability to block or allow specific AI models based on the creator’s business goals.
• Future-Proof Rights Management: Automatic updates that adapt to new AI crawlers as they emerge on the web, ensuring creators have the most up-to-date control without needing to update code.

AI Crawl Control will be available to all beehiiv users in beta, giving every publisher visibility into how AI services interact with their content and the traffic they generate. beehiiv Max customers will also have access to AI Crawl Control, enabling them to block AI crawlers and decide how their content is used across the AI ecosystem.

The new AI control features will be available through the platform’s standard dashboard settings.

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AXON successfully concluded its exclusive Investor Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, bringing together a distinguished group of investors, decision-makers, and leaders from the fintech and investment sectors across the Kingdom and the wider region to discuss the future of financial infrastructure connecting traditional finance with the digital economy.

The event was attended by representatives from some of Saudi Arabia’s leading investment firms and financial institutions, including organizations connected to the Kingdom’s national investment ecosystem and prominent venture capital funds such as the Ministry of Investment, Raed Ventures, Sadu Capital, and Takamol Ventures, alongside representatives from other investment firms, funds, and financial technology companies.

Held under the theme “Connecting Traditional Finance with the Digital Economy: The Future of Financial Infrastructure in the GCC,” the summit showcased AXON’s vision of building a unified financial orchestration layer that seamlessly connects banks, payment networks, stablecoins, and digital asset infrastructure within a fully integrated ecosystem designed to meet the highest standards of regulatory compliance.

During the event, the AXON team presented an overview of the company’s flagship products, including AXON Transfer and AXON Pay, which are designed to simplify and accelerate cross-border payments and settlements. The platform aims to reduce settlement times for international transfers and payments from several days to as little as one hour. The company also presented its product roadmap and expansion plans across Saudi Arabia as well as regional and global markets.

The summit concluded with the signing of a strategic investment agreement between AXON and Maarej Real Estate, under which Maarej committed to invest approximately SAR 4 million (approx. $1 million) in the company. The investment reflects growing confidence in AXON’s vision and its role in developing the next generation of financial infrastructure across the region.

Commenting on the occasion, Malek Alzubi, Co-Founder and CEO of AXON, said: “We are witnessing a fundamental transformation in the way value moves across the global economy. Our mission at AXON is to build the infrastructure that enables institutions to move seamlessly between traditional and digital financial systems within a comprehensive regulatory framework. Maarej’s investment marks an important milestone in our journey and reinforces the market’s confidence in the growth opportunities we are creating.”

For his part, Tamim Al-Juhani, Chairman of Maarej Real Estate, said that the investment reflects the company’s strong belief in AXON’s significant potential and its ability to play a pivotal role in supporting the region’s financial transformation. He added that the investment aligns with the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030 and contributes to strengthening the Kingdom’s position as a global hub for financial innovation. The agreement also marks the beginning of a strategic partnership between the two companies to support AXON’s growth and expand its presence in the Saudi market.

AXON continues to advance its regulatory approvals while expanding strategic partnerships with leading global financial and technology institutions. The company’s long-term vision is to establish a unified financial layer connecting traditional banking systems with modern digital infrastructure, helping accelerate cross-border trade and payments across the region and beyond.

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NinjaOne announced a $12.3 billion valuation following more than $400 million in Series C extensions. The extensions included participation from Wellington Management, Teachers’ Venture Growth (TVG), BDT & MSD Partners’ affiliated funds, Sequoia Capital, ICONIQ, Hedosophia, NEA, Washington Harbour Partners, CapitalG, and Pinegrove Opportunity Partners.

“We’re in a rare position to collaborate with some of the most forward-thinking investors in the world, and those partnerships are shaping how we bring AI into every layer of our business, from our platform roadmap and market expansion to our internal operations. This will fundamentally accelerate how we build and scale for our customers and partners, and will ensure our growth is not just intentional, but inevitable,” said Sal Sferlazza, CEO and co-founder at NinjaOne. “NinjaOne is well positioned to be the control plane for unified IT – rooted in a powerfully simple platform, our automation DNA, and our relentless focus on making customers and partners successful.”

“By 2030, over 50% of digital workplace tasks will be automated via digital workplace operations automation platforms, an increase from less than 5% in 2026,” according to Gartner. Nearly 40,000 organizations in 140+ countries use the NinjaOne Unified IT Operations Platform to unify IT and simplify work for everyone. The cloud and multi-tenant native platform manages, protects, and supports endpoint and IT operations workflows in a single console that delivers intelligent automation and efficiency at scale. This combination of modern architecture, automation at scale, market and use case coverage, and results delivers significant return on investment to our customers and partners. IDC Research** found NinjaOne customers on average enjoy:

• 720% three-year return on investment
• 4-month payback on investment
• $1M in annual benefits per 5,000 endpoints managed

NinjaOne remains founder-led and controlled. Co-founders Sal Sferlazza and Chris Matarese are still the largest equity holders in the company and have majority control of the Board of Directors and the company’s voting power. NinjaOne has nearly 40,000 customers, including Arc’teryx, Audi Revolut F1 Team, Birkenstock, Carnival Cruise Line, Deloitte, Executech, GoFundMe, Hyundai, Kawasaki, Mitsubishi, PGA Tour, Porsche, TeamLogic, and UCLA – Anderson School of Management.

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Masdar City has officially launched Biosphere Labs, the GCC’s first commercially scaled shared laboratory facility, marking a major milestone for startups in biotechnology, life sciences, and deep‑tech innovation. Announced at the BIO International Convention 2026 in San Diego, the new facility directly addresses one of the biggest barriers facing early‑stage science‑driven ventures: access to specialised, capital‑intensive lab infrastructure.

For startups, the launch represents a transformative shift. Instead of spending months — and millions — building compliant lab environments, founders can now access ready‑to‑use bench space, advanced equipment, operational support, and a fully integrated life sciences ecosystem from day one. This dramatically reduces the cost, complexity, and time required to validate ideas, run experiments, and scale prototypes.

Developed in partnership with M42 and Attentive Science, Biosphere Labs is a plug‑and‑play innovation hub where emerging companies can build, test, and commercialise new technologies within a single, connected environment. For global startups looking to enter the Middle East, the facility also serves as a soft‑landing platform, offering immediate access to Abu Dhabi’s fast‑growing life sciences cluster.

The new lab builds on Masdar City’s HELM cluster — a dedicated hub for health, longevity, medicine, and advanced biotechnology — which already hosts leading organisations such as Thermo Fisher Scientific, Oxford Nanopore Technologies, Insilico Medicine, and the Abu Dhabi Biobank. For founders, this means proximity to potential partners, customers, and investors, all within a single innovation district.

Government and industry leaders emphasised the accelerator‑like impact Biosphere Labs will have on early‑stage ventures. H.E. Dr Noura Khamis Al Ghaithi, Undersecretary of the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi, noted that the facility “provides researchers, startups and biotechnology companies with the infrastructure needed to build, test and scale new technologies,” helping translate discoveries into real‑world solutions. M42 and Attentive Science echoed this, highlighting the lab’s role in enabling scientific breakthroughs and supporting the creation of globally competitive intellectual property.

With more than 2,000 organisations already operating in the Masdar City Free Zone — including clean‑tech startups supported by The Catalyst — the addition of Biosphere Labs strengthens Abu Dhabi’s position as a rising global destination for science‑driven entrepreneurship. For founders across biotech, genomics, precision medicine, and advanced materials, the message is clear: Abu Dhabi is building the region’s most accessible, startup‑ready life sciences ecosystem.

Ahmed Baghoum, Chief Executive Officer of Masdar City, said: “Biosphere Labs is a defining milestone in Masdar City’s life sciences journey and proof of what becomes possible when the foundations, partnerships, infrastructure and policy are built with intention. Masdar City was designed to be a test bed, a place where new models are not just imagined but demonstrated, and Biosphere Labs is precisely that. We are proud to help create the conditions for scientific innovation by removing barriers, attracting global expertise, and giving researchers, startups and biotechnology companies the platform they need to develop, test and scale new innovations.

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