Startups in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region raised $88.7 million across 37 deals, a modest growth of just two per cent month-on-month in terms of deal value. Compared to the same period last year, the amount invested in February this year has fallen by 88 per cent. 

The UAE remained at the top of the Mena ecosystem in terms of investment, with its startups raising $65.6 million across 22 deals, half of which went to the Flare Network.

Saudi Arabia’s startups raised the second highest amount with $16.3 million across seven transactions, while only two Egyptian startups raised $4.6 million.

Web3 providers are the market's rising stars this month, having raised $39 million in three rounds, led by Flare Network's $35 million.

This month, foodtech performed well in terms of funding amount, securing $21 million in two deals, with $12 million committed to The Cloud's Series B round. In comparison, five fintech startups raised $6.9 million, while logistics startups received $5.4 million.

Investment in Seed stage startups continues to dominate, with 11 startups in the Seed stage raising $25.5 million in total.

About $55 million went to the business-to-consumer (B2C) sector through 16 transactions, while $18.4 million was provided to 17 startups working in the business-to-business (B2B) domain.

As usual, male-led businesses have dominated the industry, accounting for over 55 per cent of all transaction value, while 44.6 per cent went to mixed-gender founders, and female-led startups raised only 0.2 per cent of the total value.

Last month, 14 startups did not declare the amount they raised. We gave 12 of them a conservative $100,000 each. They include Bookr, PIESHIP, PhysioHome, Hayi, Coino Live, Promenade, NoorNation, TextTeo AI, AR Viewz, Boltable Studio, overwrite.ai, and CAI Concierge AI.

Magpie Protocol and Groene Point were each allocated $1 million for their undisclosed rounds.

Activity in the VC space

Last month signalled new activity in the VC space, where in the UAE the Falcon Foundation was established with plans to invest $300 million in the development of open-source generative AI models, while Jordan's Innovative Startups and SMEs Fund (ISSF) contributed $5 million to the Mena-focused fund, MSA Novo.

COTU Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm based in the UAE, also launched a $54 million inaugural fund, while the Lebanese female-led VC Globivest has completed the second close of its first fund. Egypt's Sawari Ventures also announced plans to launch a $150 million fund to support Egyptian businesses, with no timetable set.

These monthly reports are a collaboration between Wamda and Digital Digest.