Middle East unicorns will flourish, predict VCs

Middle East unicorns will flourish, predict VCs

For the first time since 2015, there were no deals worth more than $100 million last year in the UAE. Despite this, venture capitalists predict the region will see the creation of at least 10 unicorns – defined as a privately held startup company with a value of more than $1 billion – within the […]

For the first time since 2015, there were no deals worth more than $100 million last year in the UAE.

Despite this, venture capitalists predict the region will see the creation of at least 10 unicorns – defined as a privately held startup company with a value of more than $1 billion – within the next five years. 

“Our very first fund in the region was launched in 2018,” Courtney Powell, managing partner at California-based venture capital company 500 Global, told AGBI.

“It was a $33 million fund and we invested in 180 companies from that. Today we have 12 to 13 companies valued at over $100 million.

“Nobody would have thought that the very first fund would have generated that sort of portfolio.” 

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