RIYADH: The Middle East and North Africa startups continue to attract global investors with the region raising $864 million in venture funding in the first quarter of 2022, registering 33 percent growth over the previous quarter, the latest MAGNiTT report showed.
The MENA Q1 2022 Venture Investment Report pegs this growth to be around 160 percent when compared with the first quarter of last year.
Startups in the UAE lead the region by claiming 27 percent of all deals closed across MENA and 34 percent of all funding raised across the region in 2022 YTD.
In terms of industries, financial technology and transport and logistics accounted for over half of the funds raised in the first quarter of 2022.
The later-stage investment also continues to record good numbers in the region with the Series B round size recording a 108 percent YoY growth to average north of $50 million in Q1 2021. In terms of the size of a particular deal, Cryptocurrency platform Rain lead the MENA region by raising $100 million at the beginning of the year.
