Qatar’s ShipBee raises $500k to scale AI logistics platform
New funding follows 2025 pre-seed round as Doha startup targets GCC and Egypt
#Qatar #funding– AI-powered digital logistics marketplace ShipBee has raised $500,000 in seed funding led by Doha-based venture capital firm GrowthX Capital. The new funding will be used to expand its technology platform, grow its team and scale operations across the GCC and Egypt.
Founded in 2024 by Tamer Raafat and Amer Azani, ShipBee connects businesses and consumers with shipping and delivery providers, offering real-time tracking, route optimisation and forecasting tools. The seed round follows a QR855,000 ($235k) pre-seed round closed in June 2025, also led by GrowthX Capital, and brings total external funding raised to approximately $735,000.
SO WHAT? – ShipBee’s seed round is modest in scale but meaningful in context. Logistics is proving to be a growing category for venture capital funding in the Middle East region, as more logistics ventures develop AI-powered platforms. ShipBee’s short track record already demonstrates momentum, securing partnerships with DHL and Qatar Post, whilst doubling its user base last year. Fragmentation and inefficiency remain significant pain points for businesses using logistics services across the GCC, so the opportunity is significant if ShipBee finds the right product-market fit.
Here are some key points about the ShipBee funding round:
Doha-based ShipBee has raised $500,000 in seed funding led by GrowthX Capital, bringing total external funding raised since the company’s 2024 founding to approximately $735,000 across pre-seed and seed rounds.
The funding will be used to advance ShipBee’s AI technology stack, expand its workforce and grow regionally. The company aims to deploy advanced AI capabilities including real-time tracking, optimised route planning and forecasting tools designed to address inefficiencies across the GCC and Egptian logistics sectors.
ShipBee’s pre-seed round of QR855,000, closed in June 2025, was also led by GrowthX Capital and included two angel investors alongside founder bootstrapping of over QR150,000, with the company reporting it doubled its user base within six months of that funding close.
ShipBee operates as an AI-powered digital logistics marketplace, connecting businesses and consumers with shipping and delivery providers. A single platform allows users to book shipments, compare logistics options and track deliveries in real time.
The startup has already secured partnerships with major logistics players including global courier company DHL, Qatar Post, Qatari delivery platform Snoonu, Chinese AI logistics company NEXX and a range of local retailers and service providers.
The company won the first QDB Innovation Hackathon for Mobility in 2024, providing early validation of its concept and securing entry into Qatar Development Bank’s QBIC incubation programme, which has supported the startup’s early growth and helped it establish key industry partnerships.
ShipBee was founded in March 2024 by Tamer Raafat and Amer Azani and is registered in the Qatar Free Zones.
ZOOM OUT - Over the past few years, AI‑supported logistics ventures in the Middle East have attracted multi‑stage funding, from pre‑seed to large Series B rounds, across Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Egypt, and Iraq. Startups are applying AI to route optimisation, freight decision support, warehouse and fulfilment automation, and last‑mile delivery platforms, often as an enabling layer within broader “smart logistics” offerings. Funding is split between regional AI‑native logistics players and companies raising to expand AI‑driven logistics solutions into GCC and wider MENA markets.
[Written and edited with the assistance of AI]