Top 8 Countries Suffering from Currency Devaluation in MENAPT (since Jan 2022)

The 8 worst performing currencies in the MENAPT region was led by Lebanon at over 50x fall where the Lebanese Pound fell from ~1,500 LBP per US$ to over 89,000 LBP per US$.

This has impacted the funding as investors are hesitant to invest in countries with high currency risk, especially if startups are not in multiple markets - as revenues in local currencies have less purchasing power as devaluation continues.

Lebanon, while not a very active startup ecosystem, witnessed a massive drop to US$ 200,000 in 2023 from nearly US$ 17 million in 2022; while Egypt saw reduced VC funding of ~US$ 500 million, dominated by mnt-Halan, which raised 80% of that amount.

Turkey also reduced funding dropping from over US$ 3 billion in 2021 down to US$ 1 billion in 2023, having witnessed over 100% devaluation in its currency.