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Egypt dominates Mena startup funding rankings in May

By Shane McGinley
Creative Commons
The old with the new: Egypt's history tourism mixes with its wealth of tech startups
  • Egyptian startups raised $80m, Saudi’s $46m and UAE’s $45m

The amount of funding raised by startups in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) rose 62.7 percent year-on-year in May.

But it still declined 40 percent month-on-month to record the lowest monthly amount so far this year, according to data compiled by Wamda, the largest early-stage investment fund in the Middle East.

A total of $176 million was raised by Mena startups last month, from 42 investment deals, 31 more than in April.

Egypt led the monthly rankings, in terms of volume of deals and value of investment, with 11 Egyptian startups raising $80 million, the Wamda data showed. Saudi Arabia was second with nine deals generating $46 million and the UAE had eight deals and $45 million in funding.

Some of the big Egyptian deals were fintech Paymob’s $50 million Series B funding from Kora Capital, PayPal Ventures, and Clay Point. 

In terms of sectors, fintech continues to dominate, with Saudi-based fintech HyperPay also raising $36.7 million from investors led by Mastercard, Amwal Capital Partners and AB Ventures.

While UAE investors were active, participating in seven deals, foreign investors were also involved, with US investors taking part in nine deals.

In terms of gender balance, investment in female-led startups remains low, accounting for 0.04 percent of the total raised, with $64,000 invested in four deals during May.

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