Startups in the Middle East and North African region (MENA) raised $101 million across 26 deals, a 6% increase month-on-month in terms of deal value.
Two countries dominated 97% of total fundraising raising during the month:
- Saudi Arabia is the largest recipient of fundraising in the region with a total of $54 million
- UAE startups attracted $44 million
- Egypt received $1.5 million to come third, with HR-tech startup Talents Arena pointed out for being the largest beneficiary with its $750,000 round.
- Tunisia and Morocco were 4th and 5th respectively
Here are the stats:
- Saudi Arabia – $54 million
- UAE – $44 million
- Egypt – $1.5 million
- Tunisia – $539,000
- Morocco – $153,600
- Palestine – $100,000
The logistics sector secured the highest amount of capital in the region totaling $36 million, largely attributed to Rewaa’s Series A funding round. Following logistics, the travel technology (traveltech), health technology (healthtech), and Web3 sectors also received substantial investments.
Specifically, Web3 accounted for $15 million (15%) of the total funding during this period.
The four sectors collectively accounted for 76% of the total funding raised in August 2023. Fintech, while still strong in terms of deal count, slipped to the 5th position in funding compared to other sectors.
According to the stats shared with BitKE, the surge in funding was primarily driven by early-stage investment rounds. In terms of stages, Series A rounds took the lion’s share of the investment, accounting for over 63% of the total funding. Meanwhile, seed-stage startups dominated in terms of deal volume, with a total of 10 deals completed.
- B2B (business-to-business) startups were the dominant force in the funding landscape, accounting for over half of the total funding raised in August 2023
- In contrast, consumer-facing startups secured 27% of the funding through nine deals
- B2B2C (business-to-business-to-consumer) startups made up the remaining 17% of the funding
Among the 26 deals that took place, only six received direct foreign investment.
In terms of regional participation, investors based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were the most active taking part in 10 funding rounds. Saudi Arabian investors followed closely as the second most active group participating in nine deals.
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