Investcorp Saudi Arabia Financial Investments Company (together with its affiliates, “Investcorp”), a leading global alternative investment manager, has expanded its digital platform offering through a distribution agreement with Stake, the MENA region’s leading digital real-estate investment platform. The partnership provides investors with access to select international real estate opportunities via the Stake digital application, combining Investcorp’s institutional‑grade investment expertise and rigorous due diligence with Stake’s world-class technology‑enabled user experience. 

Through the Stake platform, investors are able to participate seamlessly in opportunities traditionally available only to institutional partners, reinforcing Investcorp’s commitment to broadening access to private markets through digital innovation. 

The agreement forms part of Investcorp’s broader strategy to build a global digital platform ecosystem, following the wider launch last year of its proprietary, award‑winning Investcorp Wealth mobile app, which provides investors with a streamlined gateway to private market investments. The joint initiative with Stake represents a complementary expansion of this strategy, extending Investcorp’s digital reach through a leading third‑party fintech platform. 

All offerings made available under the agreement are structured within the regulatory framework of the Capital Market Authority (CMA) of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which has established a progressive and forward‑looking regime designed to broaden investor participation in private investment funds, while maintaining robust standards of investor protection and compliance. 

Mashaal Al Jomaih, CEO of Investcorp Saudi Arabia, said: “Investcorp is committed to redefining access to private markets through digital innovation, and strategic partnerships with platforms such as Stake are a key pillar of our global digital platform strategy. This agreement enables individual investors to participate in high‑quality opportunities historically reserved for institutions, combining Stake’s advanced technology with our global investment capabilities and disciplined approach.” 

Manar Mahmassani, Co‑Founder and Co‑CEO of Stake, commented: “As we continue to make real estate investing more accessible, partnering with top tier investment managers like Investcorp allows us to bring high-quality opportunities to our users. This partnership brings us one step closer to our vision of enabling investors worldwide to access prime, institutional-grade global real estate investments through a single digital platform.” 

The first US‑based offering launched under the agreement attracted strong investor demand, with participation from thousands of investors. A second tranche is now live on the Stake platform. 

Hiring growth in the UAE and Saudi Arabia remains among the strongest globally, at 39% and 26% respectively in 2024–25, but the expansion is increasingly concentrated in a narrower set of roles, according to the RemotePass 2025 Hiring Report.

Data from the report shows outsized growth in specialised roles, with Data Scientist hiring up 43% and AI Product Manager demand rising 37%. The concentration of growth in these functions indicates that organisations are directing hiring investment toward specific capabilities rather than expanding uniformly across all technology roles.

This pattern reflects a shift in regional workforce strategy, with employers increasingly directing resources toward roles that support data-driven decision-making, AI deployment, and product execution, rather than scaling traditional technology teams.

AI and Data Roles Redefine Hiring Priorities

The UAE leads globally in AI hiring growth, rising from 32% in 2023–24 to 48% in 2024–25. The acceleration is among the sharpest recorded in any market and is being fuelled by enterprise AI adoption, fintech automation and large-scale digital infrastructure projects. Saudi Arabia shows a similar direction of travel, though at a steadier pace, as AI talent demand expands across both public and private sectors.

RemotePass Co-founder and CEO Kamal Reggad, said the data shows organisations in the UAE and Saudi Arabia moving decisively from experimentation to execution. AI is no longer confined to innovation teams, he noted, but is increasingly embedded into core business functions, making workforce planning a critical lever of competitiveness.

MENA Talent Hubs Continue to Power the GCC

While demand is strongest in the Gulf, the wider MENA region remains central to meeting it. Egypt continues to lead hiring volume across nearly every major tech role, including software engineering, backend, frontend, data science and QA, confirming its position as the region’s largest tech talent exporter. Pakistan ranks second across several engineering categories, supported by a large and cost-effective developer base.

Egypt’s AI hiring growth, after surging by 112% in the previous year, has stabilised at 28% in 2025. In contrast, Gulf markets have accelerated, reinforcing a regional realignment in which the UAE and Saudi Arabia are emerging as the primary centres of advanced technology hiring, supported by a broader MENA talent ecosystem.

ScreenCheck, a subsidiary of Centena Group and a key player offering end-to-end identification and security solutions in the Middle East, has signed a strategic partnership agreement with global security technologies company, BAS-IP to officially expand its security and identification capabilities into GCC’s residential security market.

The agreement signed during Intersec 2026, aligns with ScreenCheck’s ongoing efforts to establish a robust position in the rapidly growing smart security and digital transformation market. Currently, the market is projected to reach USD 907.12 billion by 2032, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 25.7 per cent between 2025 and 2032. This growth is mainly propelled by large-scale urban development, smart infrastructure investments and surging demand for connected security ecosystems in the residential sector.

Olga Shamilova, Chief Executive Officer at BAS-IP, said: “We are delighted to partner with ScreenCheck and support their entry into this new vertical of security systems. During our participation at Intersec 2026, we witnessed increased interest for our Open API, especially for its ability to create seamless, customised ecosystems and ease to integrate into existing building management systems. Our mobile-first application also received significant attention, as its intuitive interface was proven ideal for both complex multi-apartment projects and luxury private villas. With ScreenCheck’s market expertise in the region and their top tier client base, we look forward to providing a safe and secure environment for communities.”

The collaboration with BAS-IP will address the surging demand from developers for connected home and community security solutions across apartments, gated communities and large residential developments in the region by delivering integrated IP-based audio and video intercom systems combined with access control solutions.

Faisal Mohamed, CEO of ScreenCheck, said: “As cities continue to develop and digital infrastructure becomes an inevitable part of everyday lives, security is equally important for people and systems. We are delighted to work with BAS-IP to serve this evolving market.”

“With the Middle East region experiencing one of the fastest-growing property markets across the globe, our collaboration helps to distribute integrated residential security and home automation solutions. We will be delivering cutting-edge biometric identification, RFID solutions, AI-powered surveillance, and next-generation smart access control to homes, critical infrastructure, and technology-driven enterprises. Our goal is to enable safer, more resilient spaces that highlight the capabilities of the modern security landscape,” added Faisal.

ScreenCheck’s partnership with BAS-IP positions the company at the forefront of the region’s ongoing shift, enabling the delivery of intelligent, connected residential security ecosystems that align with the region’s smart city ambitions and evolving urban landscape.