GCC VC Funding Rebounds in Q1 2025 with $1.35B Raised

GCC VC Funding Roundup – March 2025 YTD | $1.35B Raised Across 82 Deals

March 2025 continues the GCC’s venture capital rebound—but this time, the growth is sharp, focused, and uneven. By the end of Q1, total funding hit $1.35 billion, a 67% year-over-year jump. But deal volume dropped nearly in half, with only 82 rounds closed, down from 154 in Q1 2024.

📌 What’s driving the shift? It’s a classic case of fewer, bigger bets. The average deal size more than tripled—from $5.2M to $16.5M. That’s great news for late-stage startups with traction. But for early-stage founders, Seed and Series A rounds are thinning out.

📌 Top 5 Funding Rounds – March 2025:

OSN Plus – $57M corporate round led by Warner Bros Discovery (30% stake). Now a top 3 paid streaming app in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.

NymCard – $33M Series B led by QED Investors. Embedded finance infrastructure active in 10+ MENA markets.

Klaim – $26M in debt + Series A from CDG Invest and Tharawat Holding. Accelerates working capital for healthcare providers.

ClearGrid – $10M pre-seed + seed round. AI-powered debt collections platform serving fintechs and banks.

ROR Coffee Solutions – $8M to expand across MENA and Europe. Focused on sustainable sourcing and advanced roasting tech.

With all five top-funded startups based in the UAE, capital is concentrating fast. The question now is: will early-stage innovation bounce back, or are we entering a cycle where only the biggest players get funded?