Top 10 MENA Countries for Tech Scaleups 2023

Lucidity Insights reviewed 13 years of data from 1 January 2010 to the end of 2022, to determine how many scaleups reside in 19 MENA countries (excluding Israel). Scaleups are startups that have raised a minimum of US $1 million of startup capital since inception. In this review, we considered all scaleups that had raised at least one funding round since January 1, 2010. The MENA region tallied 749 scaleups in total.

The top 3 countries in terms of the number of scaleups that call these markets home were: #1 UAE, #2 Egypt, and #3 Saudi Arabia. As of the end of 2022, the UAE had the strongest lead with 339 scaleups calling the Emirates home. Egypt and Saudi Arabia followed with less than half of the UAE's scaleups with 140 and 132 calling these countries home. 

Dubai in particular is a beacon of light for the regional tech ecosystem, being home to 40% (306) of all scaleups across the entire region, and accounting for 90% of all scaleups in the UAE.