Startup funding deals across the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) saw an annual increase of 3.5 per cent in 2024, with 610 agreements recorded across the region.
According to a report from Wamada, fintech remained the dominant sector, attracting 30pc of total funding, or $700 million.
Software-as-a-service saw strong traction in Saudi Arabia, while Web 3.0 saw $256.8m and e-commerce also gained momentum with $253m in funding.
Despite the strong showing in these sectors, the overall funding value across the startup ecosystem of $2.3 billion represented a 42pc year-on-year drop.
When excluding debt financing, the decline stood at just 11pc.
The UAE led with $1.1bn raised across 207 deals, followed by Saudi Arabia at $700m from 186 deals, and Egypt securing $334m across 84 deals.
Oman ranked fourth with $41.5m, while Morocco and Tunisia led in North Africa, raising $20.8m and $13.1m, respectively. Emerging ecosystems in Jordan, Qatar, and Lebanon also showed modest growth.
Early-stage startups accounted for over $1.2bn in investments, while later-stage and pre-IPO rounds saw limited activity. Female-founded startups raised $27.6m, or 1.2pc of total funding, with mixed-gender founding teams securing $192m.
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