Masthead
The temperature of MENA tech.
Fifty Degrees is the morning read on technology and venture capital in the Gulf and the wider region: every funding round, fund, acquisition and people move, dated, sourced and given a heat reading from 10° to 50°. It is written for one reader, a VC associate in Riyadh or Dubai who already saw the press release on LinkedIn and wants the read in twenty seconds.
The site is built on records, not rewrites. The Deal Tracker is free and public. The Morning Edition lands Mon–Thu, 07:00 GST. Thursday is the Weekly Temperature. First Sunday of the month, 18:00 GST: the Heat Index. Published by Fifty Degrees, 2026.
The desk
Editor
Hannaan Kirmani
Editor of Fifty Degrees. Tracks every funding round, fund, acquisition and people move in MENA tech and writes the morning read on what it prices in.
Editorial policy
- Predict, don't judge
- Every take answers three questions: will it work, who wins, what does it price in. We do not grade founders on virtue and we do not moralise about capital.
- Moves, not politics
- Licences, free zones, listings rules and sovereign mandates are reported as moves, with a number and a date. Party politics is not on this desk.
- Sources are credited, always
- Wamda, AGBI, Zawya, company releases and filings are the wire. Every record and every story names its source and links out to it. We read the wire; we do not compete with it.
- Undisclosed stays undisclosed
- An amount that was not announced is printed as Undisclosed, in italics, and is never estimated. Blended rounds are decomposed into equity and debt when the split is reported, and flagged when it is not.
- Reported means reported
- A number that comes from sources rather than the company carries a (reported) marker next to it, on the record and on the story.
How we source
A record is one dated capital event in MENA tech: a round, a fund launch or close, an acquisition, a strategic stake, a PIPE or a pre-IPO round. Each carries an HQ country, a stage, a sector, an announcement date, a source and a heat reading. People moves are stories in the Transfer Window, not records. Founders and investors can send a move to desk@fifty.degree with the company, the amount, the stage, the lead and the source.
Heat is computed from the record by a published rubric and can be overridden by the editor, visibly. The full methodology, including confidence levels and debt decomposition, lives on the Deal Tracker.
Corrections and contact
Corrections
A wrong number, date or lead is fixed in place and the change is noted on the story. Write to desk@fifty.degree.
Tips
Embargoed moves are honoured to the minute. desk@fifty.degree
Partners
Annual, category-exclusive. How it works · partners@fifty.degree
Segment guide
- Today's Moves
- Dateline one-liners from the records, each with a heat reading.
- The Big One
- One predictive take on the lead story: will it work, who wins, what it prices in.
- Transfer Window
- People moves as transfers: SIGNED, POACHED, PROMOTED, FREE AGENT, TRADED.
- Heat Check
- One number and a note, computed from the records.
- Cold Water
- Headline / Actually / So what: the number decomposed.
- Sovereign Watch
- PIF, Sanabil, HUMAIN, Mubadala, QIA and peers tracked as market makers.
- Cheque Book
- Who wrote cheques this week, ranked by count and lead roles.
- The Corridor
- Cross-border moves, especially Cairo → Riyadh and Amman → Cairo.
- On the Docket
- Regulators and free zones, reported as moves, never as politics.
- Late Edition
- Published after the morning send; the front page updates through the day.
- Partner Read
- One labelled paragraph per edition for a category-exclusive partner. No display ads.