Startups in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region raised more than $ 2.82 billion in investments through 639 deals last year, a number record than in previous years, according to a recent report released by Wamda.
The year 2021 also witnessed the first direct investment by SoftBank Fund and Sequoia Capital in a number of startups in the region and 2021 was a bumper year across the board standard for the startup community and the technology sector in the Middle East and North Africa region in terms of number of operations and volume of financing.
According to the report, the UAE continues to maintain its position as the most active Arab country in terms of investment volume and number of deals, as UAE-based startups received $ 1.46 billion through 196 deals.
The start-up based in Saudi Arabia secured $ 647 million in 138 financing agreements. Egypt came in third, with startups raising $ 445 million across 146 round of financing. Together, these three countries occupy 75% of the number of agreements and 87% of the total investment value.
Even the business environment in other countries such as Bahrain, Tunisia and Qatar have seen significant activity in light of the increase in the number of incubators and accelerators, which play an important role in providing funding to start-up.
The biggest funding deals for 2021 came from the two companies iMile and BitOasis, founded by women, as both raised $ 40 million and $ 30 million, respectively. Tarjama also raised the highest amount among startups founded by women during a round secret led by Amethis Finance, according to Wamda.
Despite this, the share of startups founded by women in the total volume of direct financing to startups in the region is still very small compared to those founded by men.
In total, startups founded by women only earned $ 34.6 million, or 1.2% of the total raised through 52 deals in the past year. Startups created by a team of men and women made $ 210 million through 61 deals, according to Wamda’s annual MENA Venture Investment Report.
On the other hand, startups founded by men obtained 91.5% of the total funding for 2021, amounting to 2.87 billion dollars, raised through 526 agreements, including the round of $ 415 million investment obtained by Kitubi Cloud Kitchen Company, which is the round larger investment. from a startup in the Middle East and North Africa region over the past year.
The United Arab Emirates occupies the first place in terms of volume of funding and number of deals startups have secured for women’s organizations. UAE-based startups have secured investments of $ 187 million through 46 deals in the past year.
Saudi Arabia ranked second, as startups founded by a team of men and women raised approximately $ 14 million through 9 deals. Egypt came in third, with total investments of nearly $ 12 million across 20 deals.
Flat6Labs, with headquarters in Egypt was the most active investor in the world of start-up founded by women and in its ecosystem of startups founded by women.
Read More About: Business News
