Cities Home to the Most Unicorns in MENA

We've been monitoring the development of unicorns across the region closely here at Lucidity Insights. Our most recent analysis shows that Dubai is currently home to 8 unicorns, based on verifiable disclosures. We're well aware that the actual number may indeed be higher, but if rounds were undisclosed, we were unable to verify and include them onto this official list.

Riyadh already has three verifiable unicorns, while Cairo has two. Interestingly, both of Cairo's unicorns are fintechs, while Riyadh's first unicorns was also a fintech; meanwhile Dubai didn't crown a fintech unicorn until 2021 when banking tech startup Zeta raised its $250M Series C. Instead, Dubai is has home-grown a variety of unicorns spanning mobility tech, proptech, foodtech, social networks, and the like. Dubai has also been doing a great job of relocating and transplanting unicorn HQs to the city - as they grow and look for a strong home-base to fundraise and recruit top talent in the region. Who'll be next?

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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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