The startup ecosystem in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) raised a total investment of $863 million distributed over 63 rounds largely dominated by debt-financing (44%), according to the latest MENA report.
When excluding debt financing ($768 million), the total funding amount closely mirrors that of January 2024. While last month initially showed a 210% month-on-month (MoM) increase, removing debt financing from both months reveals a 64% MoM decline.
In the country breakdown:
- The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia emerged top with 21 startups raising $839.5 million, by far the highest total in the region.
- Startups in the UAE underperformed last month, with 15 companies securing only $14.6 million in funding.
- Egypt followed, raising $6 million across seven transactions
As reported by BitKE, already in 2025, Egypt, which came third in total overall funding in the MENA region in 2024 with $334 million raised, has seen MoneyHash and Khazna announce new raises.
NORTH AFRICA | Fintech Dominated Investments in the #MENA Region in 2024, Web3 Took Second Spot
From a country point of view, #Egypt took third place, attracting $334 million in investments across 84 startups.https://t.co/i4SRnzMRYc pic.twitter.com/nsGW7FF7U0
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) January 30, 2025
- The rest of the MENA region collectively secured less than $2.5 million.
In the sectoral breakdown:
- Fintech led all sectors in January 2025, securing $776.6 million across 11 deals, driven by investments in Saudi startups Lendo and Forus
- Proptech ranked second, attracting $38.7 million from four startups, while
- e-Commerce followed closely with five deals totaling $30 million
- Web3, which received the highest value of investments in December 2024 ($106 million) also underperformed with just $100K raised despite positive activity in the crypto and blockchain sector.
January 2025 saw:
- Minimal later-stage investment activity, with Lendo being the only post-Series B announcement.
- Most funding was directed toward Series A.
- In terms of volume, the pre-seed stage led, with 15 startups raising $4.6 million.
In terms of business verticals:
- Investors showed a strong preference for the business-to-business (B2B) model, contributing $692 million to 41 B2B startups.
- Meanwhile, the business-to-consumer (B2C) sector lagged, with 20 startups securing $70.5 million.
- The remaining funds were allocated to two startups operating in both models.
From a gender perspective:
- Startups founded by male entrepreneurs dominated funding, securing $795 million across 47 transactions while
- Women-led startups saw notable growth, attracting $61.6 million.
- Additionally, startups co-founded by both men and women raised approximately $5.6 million.
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