Skip to content Skip to Search
Skip navigation

Funding squeeze stifles AI innovation in Mena

By Shruthi Nair

Emerging technology and AI startups in the Mena region are struggling to find investors.

Industry experts say that the Middle East attracts less than 5 percent of global funding for AI because of the lack of specialised venture capital funds that are willing to take risks.

“Our region lags behind the rest of the world when it comes to committing actual cash to new technology,” said Ed Rawles, chief talent officer of Nybl, an AI data company. 

Global venture capital investments fell to a near five-year low in the first three months of 2024, mainly due to higher interest rates.

However, governments in the UAE and Saudi Arabia are stepping in.

Abu Dhabi announced the launch of a $100 billion AI-focused investment vehicle called MGX that will have sovereign wealth fund Mubadala and AI company G42 as its foundational partners earlier this year. 

To rival that, Saudi Arabia launched Project Transcendence, another $100 billion AI project, through which the Public Investment Fund will invest in data centres, startups and other infrastructure to develop artificial intelligence. 

Watch the video to learn more about funding for AI in Mena

Latest articles

A data centre technician. Amazon, Google and Microsoft are also developing high-tech infrastructure in Southeast Asia

Damac to spend $3bn on data centres in Southeast Asia

Edgnex, the data centre subsidiary of Dubai’s Damac Group, is planning to invest $3 billion in sites across Southeast Asia over the next three to five years.  The investment is part of a $7 billion digital infrastructure strategy that aims to meet rising demand for artificial intelligence and cloud computing, Danish Nayar, Damac’s senior vice-president […]

City, Architecture, Building

Aldar acquires unfinished commercial tower in DIFC

Abu Dhabi’s largest developer, Aldar Properties, has acquired an unfinished commercial tower in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) for AED2.3 billion ($626 million), as it continues its expansion into its neighbouring emirate.  The tower, bought from H&H Development, has 40 floors of commercial and retail space and is due for completion in 2028.  It is […]

Britain's King Charles and Queen Camilla with the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Britain's Princess Anne, Princess Royal attend a State Banquet at Buckingham Palace, London, during the state visit to the UK of the Emir of Qatar, Britain, December 3, 2024.

Qatar to invest £1bn in UK climate tech

The Qatari and British governments have announced a spate of deals as the Gulf country’s emir arrived in the UK on a two-day state visit. Officials announced on Wednesday that Qatar will invest £1 billion ($1.27 billion) in climate technology in the UK, with British engineering firm Rolls-Royce a key beneficiary. The investment is expected […]

Muhammad Al Jasser of the Islamic Development Bank, second from left, at the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Riyadh

Arab funds pledge $10bn to fight desertification

The Arab Coordination Group, an alliance of 10 development funds, is to provide $10 billion by 2030 to combat land degradation, desertification and drought, it was announced on the second day of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification event in Riyadh.  The commitment brings the total pledged to these interrelated causes at the two-week […]