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.
Dubai's Venture Capital Ecosystem
There are 749 scale-ups that have raised over US $1 million in fundraising in the Middle East and North Africa region; collectively raising over US $19.5 billion, cumulatively, as of December 2022. Over 40% of these scale-ups call Dubai home.