2023 MENA Region: Venture Capital Funding Trends by Growth Stage and Country

2023 was the year Saudi Arabia topped the UAE for the first time in terms of startup fundraising, which was predominantly buoyed by a number of strong late-stage funding rounds, amounting to US $879 Million, for players like Tabby (who relocated to Saudi from Dubai), Tamara, Nana, and Floward.

The UAE on the other hand, had no mega-rounds, and nearly no late-stage rounds in 2023.

Instead, early stage and "other equity" dominated funding activity.

Egypt and Israel also tended towards "other equity" - which refers to an unclassified funding round, a corporate round, and/or a post-IPO equity round.

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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.

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