In March 2024, startups in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region secured $254 million through 54 deals, marking a significant increase of 186% month on month (MoM) from February’s $88.7 million.
This figure also represents a slight uptick of 1.17% year on year (YoY) from the $251 million raised in March 2023.
Egypt secured the third position on the list, with eight startups raising $7 million. Following Egypt, the UAE came in second place, raising $39 million through 12 startups. Saudi Arabia took top spot, generating a total of $198 million across 25 transactions.
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) providers emerged as the primary recipients of funding, securing $130.6 million across nine deals. This figure surpassed the funding for fintech, which amounted to $40 million across 12 transactions. Additionally, four e-commerce startups collectively raised $18 million.
There was a scarcity of large investment rounds and later-stage funding:
- Seed rounds drew $49 million from investors, while
- Four startups received $38.5 million during their Series A stage.
- Additionally, 16 startups were awarded grants amounting to a total of $1.75 million.
One of the prominent trends in March 2024 is the decrease in investment directed towards the business-to-customer (B2C) model, which obtained $48 million, constituting 19% of the total investment. In contrast, the business-to-business (B2B) sector attracted the majority share, securing $188 million, representing 74% of the total rounds.
Another trend was several mergers and acquisitions (M&As) including Egypt’s MNT-Halan acquiring Pakistan’s Advans Microfinance Bank. Halan proved to be one of Africa’s most successul startup enterprises when it raised $400 million in February 2023, at a valuation exceeding $1 billion.
🇪🇬 Egyptian Fintech, MNT Halan, Now Africa’s 9th Unicorn Valued at Over $1 Billion After $400 Million in Funding
MNT Halan has created a digital platform that links together consumers, merchants, and small businesses while offering financial serviceshttps://t.co/05Z5Jty9Su
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) February 7, 2023
March 2024 experienced a notable increase in investment activity, reversing the downward trend observed in January and February 2024 and bringing the total for Q1 to $429 million across 129 funding rounds.
However, we cannot say that the ecosystem has entirely recovered, as the activity remains 62% lower than in the same quarter last year.
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