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Home Sector Banking & Finance Saudi Arabia leads MENA’s VC landscape with $750 million funding in 2024

Saudi Arabia leads MENA’s VC landscape with $750 million funding in 2024

Saudi Arabia set a new record with 178 VC deals last year, solidifying its position as the region's largest economy
Saudi Arabia leads MENA’s VC landscape with $750 million funding in 2024
The Kingdom's share reached 40 percent of the total capital deployed in the region

Saudi Arabia maintained its position as the first across the MENA region in terms of Venture Capital (VC) funding in 2024, witnessing a total VC deployment of SAR2.8 billion ($750 million). This achievement underscores the remarkable development the Kingdom is experiencing across various economic and financial sectors, in line with the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030 which seeks to strengthen the national economy.

“The Kingdom’s leading position in the VC scene in the region comes as a result of the many governmental initiatives launched to stimulate the VC and startups ecosystem within the Saudi Vision 2030 programs, and the development of the legislative and regulatory environment for the ecosystem, in addition to the emergence of active investors from the private sector as well as innovative entrepreneurs,” stated Saudi Venture Capital Company CEO and board member Dr. Nabeel Koshak.

Saudi Arabia sets record 178 VC deals

The 2024 Emerging Markets Venture Capital Report by venture data platform MAGNiTT reveals that Saudi Arabia secured the highest share of total VC funding in the MENA region in 2024, despite a 44 percent annual decline in total funding. The Kingdom’s share reached 40 percent of the total capital deployed in the region.

The report also revealed that Saudi Arabia set a new record with 178 VC deals in the same year. This highlights the attractiveness of the Saudi market, boosts its competitive environment and solidifies the Kingdom’s position as the largest economy in MENA.

“We are proud that SVCs strategy contributed to the development of the VC ecosystem in the Kingdom. We at SVC are committed to continuing to lead the development of the ecosystem by stimulating private investors to provide support for startups and SMEs to be capable of fast and high growth, leading to diversifying the national economy and achieving the goals of the Saudi Vision 2030,” added Koshak.

Emerging venture markets raise $9.1 billion

In 2024, emerging venture markets in the Middle East, Africa, Pakistan, Türkiye and Southeast Asia raised $9.1 billion in VC funding. This marks a 40 percent decline from the figure recorded in FY2023, as emerging markets also struggle with the global funding downturn. Despite the significant total funding decline, the total number of investors backing startups in these markets increased by 2 percent annually to 1,707.

Industries like advertising and marketing and IT solutions are attracting significant investor interest, with their funding increasing by 181 percent and 30 percent, respectively.

Read: Saudi Arabia issues $12 billion triple-tranche bond, oversubscribed by three times

MENA region raises $1.9 billion in 2024

Of the $9.1 billion total, the MENA region raised $1.9 billion. Despite the dip in funding, the number of active investors in MENA rose by 20 percent, signaling optimism for what lies ahead in 2025. In addition, the number of deals across the region increased by 7 percent in 2024, a further sign of the ecosystem’s growth prospects.

Southeast Asia was the hardest hit by the 2024 downturn, with total funding in the region dropping by 45 percent. Following close by was Africa with a 44 percent funding decline. Meanwhile, the Middle East saw significant investor interest despite the downturn, with total investors increasing by 14 percent.

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