The MENA region’s startup ecosystem saw a remarkable surge in activity last month, recording a significant influx of investment, with startups raising a total of $494 million across 58 deals. This impressive figure represents a nearly fivefold increase compared to the investment amount secured in the same month of the previous year.
In January, debt financing constituted 90 percent of the total investment. However, February saw a significant drop in debt financing, which made up only 15 percent of the total investment that month. Excluding debt from both months reveals that February recorded a 371 percent monthly increase in investment activity.
LEAP 2025 propels Saudi Arabia to the top
In its latest report, Wamda revealed that startups in Saudi Arabia raised $250.3 million across 25 deals last month, leading the region in fundraising. This rise was driven in part by the LEAP 2025 conference, where many startups announced their closed deals.
In second place came the UAE with 15 startups raising $203.5 million. Egypt came in a distant third, with just $27.5 million raised by eight startups. Oman returned to the top four with two startups raising $6 million.
Last month, Fintech led all sectors last month with $274 million raised across 15 deals. Insurtech followed in second with $55 million across two deals, while logistics took third place, securing $28.5 million in four deals.
Pre-seed stage startups raise $22 million
February also witnessed an improvement in the number of later-stage deals, with Tabby raising $160 million in Series E funding. Both Ula and Merit Incentives secured $28 million in Series B funding. Additionally, Taager and Khazna successfully closed their pre-Series B rounds, raising $6.7 million and $16 million, respectively.
However, in terms of deal count, the majority of investments went to the pre-seed stage, where 15 startups bagged $22 million, while startups at the Series A stage saw a cash influx of $158 million distributed over seven rounds, and 10 seed-stage startups received $27.8 million.
B2B startups raise $191.6 million
MENA startups operating in the business-to-business (B2B) model took the lead as the most funded in February, garnering $191.6 million through 33 transactions, and the business-to-consumer (B2C) model raised $138.5 million in 18 deals, while six startups operating in both domains secured $164 million.
MENA startups led by male founders garnered the largest amount of investment, bringing in $429 million, accounting for 87 percent of the total investment for the month. Meanwhile, startups with female founders only received $200,000, and the remaining amount was invested in startups co-founded by both genders.
