With every passing year, the Middle East’s entrepreneurship sector improves and thrives as more people found their own startups and investors become more comfortable with funding them.

The amount raised by startups this year has already surpassed that of 2017, which totaled $560 million according to data from Magnitt.

This level of funding will continue to grow alongside governmental and corporate support, but there remains several, significant challenges facing startups. From infrastructure issues to regulatory restrictions, entrepreneurs are powering through and forging a future beyond the public sector.  

We have compiled our most popular stories from 2018, which provide a glimpse of the opportunities, challenges and hopes of this region’s startup scene.

• Teaching coding to young refugees will generate job opportunities to thousands
• What does Careem’s expansion to Sudan mean for local players?
• Free calls to nowhere, how Skype ban hurts startups in the UAE
• China's growing interest in the Mid East
• Increasing competitiveness in the Arab World
• Deciphering the fintech boom in the Mid East