2023 Funding Value Split by Equity/Debt Funding

The VC winter has hit every market hard in the MENA region in 2023, and has shaken rankings of the regions startup hubs as well.

Despite Saudi Arabian startups attracting $220 million less equity than in 2022, Saudi has overtook the UAE to claim the "VC funding throne" in MENA (excluding Israel) for the very first time.

The UAE had a fall from grace, having attracted nearly $3.6 billion in funding in 2022, but barely attracting $1 billion in funding in 2023.

Egypt also garnered less than half of the funding its ecosystem got in 2022, bringing in under $300 million in 2023 equity funding versus $756 million in 2022.

Israel also fell from raising $12.9 billion in 2022 to raising just $5.1 billion in 2023. Thats a 60% YOY drop, likely also driven lower by the ongoing war in Gaza.