There’s appetite in the region for dealing effectively with misconduct and unethical practices — and investors seem to see the potential. Cairo-born, AI-powered whistle-blowing and ethics case management platform iVoiceUp closed a seven-figure investment round by Egypt-focused VC A15, with proceeds set to help it establish a physical presence in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, iVoiceUp co-founder Ahmed Genedy told EnterpriseAM.
The platform is already serving “over 1 mn voices across leading blue-chip organizations in the region,” according to a statement (pdf) from the startup. iVoiceUp enables “organizations to detect, manage, and analyze misconduct across fraud, corruption, harassment, discrimination, and other unethical practices” through anonymous reporting, Genedy told us.
A subscription could also pay for itself, with the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners claiming that organizations lose 5% of annual income on average to fraud, Genedy said. But the danger for companies is larger than this — “companies without trusted reporting channels face reputational damage, regulatory exposure, and undetected misconduct driven by fear of retaliation,” Genedy explained.
But why the hype now? “Compliance and governance regulations across the GCC and broader region are evolving rapidly,” Genedy said. And iVoiceUp is in the right place at the right time, he argues, saying the company was “built early to address this gap and today stands as a first-mover, regionally focused platform designed for local regulatory, cultural, and operational realities.”