Why 2021 Could See More Startups From The Middle East Become Unicorns – Entrepreneur

  • Date: 21-Jan-2021
  • Source: Entrepreneur Middle East
  • Sector:Technology
  • Country:Middle East
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Why 2021 Could See More Startups From The Middle East Become Unicorns – Entrepreneur

The pandemic seems to have driven the region's VCs to be more sophisticated and strategic in how they deploy capital, and also to be bolder.







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As we look ahead to 2021, it is difficult not to look back over 2020, one of the most challenging years for business in sectors across the board. For the GCC, which has put startups at the core of regionwide diversification strategies, the COVID-19 pandemic should have been even more devastating than it was.At first, the results were predictable, with global funding falling to its lowest level since the 2008 financial crisis– and all this at a time when the Middle Eastern venture capital community was only just starting to find its wings.But something unexpected happened. The Middle East bucked this global trend. We saw a record-breaking US$659 million invested in MENA-based startups in the first half of 2020 alone. Money was flowing into, not pulling out of, the region's startups. So, what happened? It