The startup ecosystem in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) experienced a significant slowdown in December 2024, securing $279 million across 42 deals.
While this represents an 8% increase from the previous month (November 2024), it represents a steep 76% YoY decline compared to the same period last year [2023].
FUNDING | #MENA Startups Raise $258 Million Funding in November 2024, $1.5 Million in #Web3
E-commerce emerged as the top-performing sector with seven startups collectively raising $104 million.https://t.co/dRyny4Pdqx pic.twitter.com/kMhghKcnBV
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) December 10, 2024
The majority of investments were concentrated in:
- UAE startups, which secured $217 million across 18 deals
- Saudi startups followed, with 11 companies collectively raising $30 million
- Bahraini startups ranked third
- Egyptian startups had a particularly weak showing, raising just $2 million across five deals. Similarly,
- Startups in Morocco, Jordan, Tunisia, and Qatar collectively secured $4.4 million in funding
- Startups in the Web3 sector led all sectors in funding last month [December 2024], though
- Fintech technically emerged as the most funded sector, as half of Web3’s total came from one deal, a $100 million debt financing deal by the UAE-based Bitcoin-backed lending platform Allo. xyz
- Meanwhile, the fintech sector raised $93.5 million through seven deals
- Foodtech made a return to the top three in December 2024, securing $25.1 million across two startups. Additionally,
- Edtech showed signs of recovery, raising $16 million through five funding rounds
Investors continued to show strong interest in early-stage startups, contributing:
- $59 million to seed-stage companies
- $7.7 million to seven pre-seed startups
- Six Series A startups raised $53 million
- Notably, Calo was the only later-stage deal recorded in December 2024
- The business-to-consumer (B2C) model was the most funded, with 18 B2C startups securing $128.4 million, while
- 22 business-to-business (B2B) startups raised $124.6 million
As is often the case:
- Male-founded startups attracted the majority of investment, securing $263 million. In comparison,
- Four women-led startups received $12.6 million, and
- Two co-ed startups raised $1.5 million
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