• Egypt-based deeptech startup Nawah Scientific has closed a $23 million Series A round, comprising a mix of equity and debt, as it marks a decade since its founding.
• The round was led by Life Ventures Holding, with participation from Den Ventures, Empire M, AfricInvest, and Elsewedy, as well as banks and angel investors.
• Founded in 2015 by Omar Saqr, Nawah operates a cloud lab model that enables remote access to advanced testing services across four business units, spanning life sciences, food and agriculture, pharmaceuticals, and certified reference materials.
• The funding will support building a global R&D centre in Rwanda, doubling laboratory capacity in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and expanding into North Africa and Europe.

Press release:

Egypt’s deep-tech and life science company  specialized in scientific and industrial testing services, Nawah Scientific, has closed a $23 million Series A round (a mix of equity and debt) as it marks 10 years since launch.

The round was led by Life Ventures Holding, with participation from Den Ventures, Empire M, AfricInvest, and Elsewedy, alongside banks and angel investors. Nawah says the capital will back three priorities: building a 10,000-sqm global R&D centre in Rwanda, doubling lab capacity in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and expanding across North Africa and Europe.

Founder and CEO Omar Shokry Saqr said the round strengthens Nawah’s research and tech backbone for its next growth phase. At the anniversary event in Cairo, Hossam Heiba, CEO of GAFI, highlighted Nawah as a model for turning advanced research into value-added, export-ready capabilities.

Founded in 2015, Nawah’s cloud lab model enables researchers and companies to run advanced testing remotely. The company operates four business units: Life Science Research (its core platform for advanced testing and research services), Food & Agriculture (certified safety and quality testing for producers and exporters), Pharma (R&D and formulation support for pharmaceuticals and cosmetics), and CRM, where Nawah produces certified reference materials, positioning it among a limited number of producers globally supplying the critical standards used for calibration, method validation, and quality control across labs and regulated industries.

Over a decade, Nawah has tested 1M+ samples, employs 160 researchers, and serves clients in 30+ countries.