MENA startups see funding boom in 2022 with 13% rise despite December drop

MENA startups see funding boom in 2022 with 13% rise despite December drop

CAIRO: Funding for startups in the Middle East and North Africa ended 2022 on a disappointing note despite the total amount raised in the year up on the previous 12 months, according to MENA entrepreneurship platform Wamda. Burgeoning firms secured $125 million in December across 38 deals – meaning funding was down 40 percent compared to the same month the previous year, as well as a 72 percent decrease on a monthly basis. However, the total investment throughout 2022 stood at $3.6 billion, up 13 percent compared to 2021 and spread across 628 deals. In December, Egypt was the leading country in terms of funding raised with $45.7 million, followed by the UAE with $31.7 million and Saudi Arabia with $31.6 million. Regarding deal count in the final month of the year, Saudi Arabian and Egyptian startups both shared the top rank with 11 deals each, followed by the UAE with 10. Saudi-based investors were the most active during December, participating in 31 deals while foreign investors were involved in 22 deals, mostly coming from the US. Mergers and acquisitions were high during the month with six deals across the fintech, health-tech, e-commerce, prop-tech and food-tech sectors. These transactions included