MENA startups raised $176 million in May: Report

Startups in the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) raised $176 million in May 2022 across 42 deals, a decline of 40 percent month-on-month investment value, but a 62.7 percent increase year-on-year, according to a monthly report released by the entrepreneurship empowering platform in the MENA Wamda.  

The report observes that the deal count saw a 31 percent uptick despite declining funding value versus the previous month. 

Egypt-based startups led the pack in deal value and volume, raising $81 million across 11 deals, with Paymob leading the way with a $50 million Series B round from Kora Capital, PayPal Ventures, and Clay Point. The value of investments raised by Egyptian startups rose by 135 percent year on year, Wamda says.  

The study also shows that Saudi-based startups were a distant second with $46 million raised across nine deals thanks to fintech Hyperpay’s $36.7 million round led by Mastercard, followed closely by UAE-based startups with $45 million raised across eight deals.

Furthermore, the analysis reveals that the total funding value was driven by the mega-rounds such as Paymob and Hyperpay, whose rounds combined makeup almost half of the amount raised in May. 

Overall, the deal volume and value at later stages witnessed a sharp fall, a sign that investors are pulling back on writing larger cheques.

That said, early-stage startups mopped up the maximum number of deals with 21 pre-Seed and Seed stage startups raising $50 million, accounting for 28 percent of the total amount raised, a 10 percent uptick month-on-month, according to Wamda.

Sector-wise, fintech, and marketplaces were neck and neck in terms of deal count. However, fintech bagged the most investment with $112 million, followed by marketplaces and logistics, both attracting $24 million and $15 million respectively.

Foreign investors participated in 21 of the funding rounds in May, with US-based investors participating in nine deals. Regionally, it was UAE-based who were the most active investors, taking part in seven deals. Sudan-based 249 Startups was the most active incubator last month, investing in seven startups.

Moreover, the study highlighted that startups with all-male founding teams attracted $154 million across 25 deals, while startups with both male and female co-founders raised $22 million across four deals. Female-led startups collected 0.04 percent of the total raised, amounting to $64,000 across four deals, thanks primarily to three rounds raised by solo female founders graduating from Sudan’s 249 Startups incubator program.

Wamda concluded its report by saying that last month, seven startups did not disclose the exact amount they raised. They include Qewam, Teegara, Cloudshelf, Istoria, Natrify, Unipal, and Azom. We assigned them a conservative amount of $100,000, and a $1,000,000 for  Azom, which raised an undisclosed seven-figure round.