Banking & Finance Fintech pushes Mena startups to raise $445m in May By Pramod Kumar June 12, 2023, 6:08 AM Unsplash/Priscilla du Preez Fintech startups raised the most money in May. The health and wellness sector also saw a notable increase in funding Venture capital (VC) activity bounced back in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) in May 2023, as funding into the regional startups reached $445 million. The fundings were spread across 39 deals, compared to $7 million raised across 11 deals in April 2023, Dubai-based Wamda said in its monthly report. On a year-on-year basis, the deal volume jumped significantly by 153 percent. Country-wise, the UAE led the list with $422 million raised across 14 deals, accounting for 90 percent of the total money raised. The funding was primarily led by buy-now-pay-later startup Tabby’s $350 million debt round. Qatar took the second spot for the first time with $12 million raised by superapp Snoonu, followed by Saudi Arabia with $6 million raised across 15 deals. In terms of deal count, Saudi Arabia topped the charts, primarily due to the graduation of seven homegrown startups from the Flat6labs Riyadh accelerator prorgramme. Fintech continues to retain its place as a preferred destination for VC funding. In the later stages of funding, dealmaking improved after being severely impacted by unstable market conditions. Seed and pre-seed startups continue to dominate deal volume. Startups with all-male founding teams attracted the majority of funding with 92.8 percent, while startups with male and female co-founders raised 7.2 percent of the total. Only one female-founded startup raised investment in May, thanks to a $10,000 grant given to Egyptian healthtech outfit Chefaa.
Markets Oman’s Asyad Group plans IPO of shipping unit Asyad Group, a logistics business owned by Oman’s sovereign wealth fund, has announced plans to float its shipping unit on the Muscat stock exchange. At least 20 percent of Asyad Shipping Company will be sold in the initial public offering. The Asyad IPO will be divided into two tranches. The first is 75 percent of […] 3 hours ago
Video length: 04:02 VIDEO Finance One million users for Saudi Arabia’s Sahm trading app “Riyadh has a population of 8 million. The government is going to double the population. That means money. That means capital,” says Steven Chou, chairman of Saudi-based fintech-driven financial company Sahm Capital. “Local Saudis are keen to look for a new product. They are options lovers,” Chou says, adding that the sectors of interest include […] 33 mins ago In association with
Industry Almarai to increase poultry output by 35% Almarai, the Middle East dairy and food production group, announced plans to increase its poultry output by 35 percent this year as it continues with its multi-billion-dollar expansion plans. The Riyadh company reported fourth-quarter profit of SAR430 million ($115 million), an increase of 16 percent, as revenue rose 4.8 percent to SAR5.15 billion. It announced a […] 10 mins ago
Construction German company to assess proposed Spain-Morocco tunnel A German-owned company has been awarded a contract to conduct a feasibility study on building an undersea railway tunnel between Morocco and Spain, the latest indication that the long-stalled plan could become reality. If built, the tunnel would be one of the longest of its kind worldwide and would make transporting goods and people between […] 27 mins ago
