Startups in Mena raised $173 million across 51 deals as investment levels continue to decline this year. This marks a 54 per cent drop month on month in investment value and an almost 50 per cent drop when compared to the same period last year. 

The global economic crisis which has resulted in rising inflation and a drop in tech stocks is continuing to show its effects on investors focused on the region.

Nonetheless, Saudi Arabia-based truck aggregator TruKKer, managed to secure one of the largest funding rounds this year, raising $100 million in a pre-IPO round led by Bahrain’s Investcorp. The startup closed a $96 million Series B round earlier this year and has to date raised more than $320 million.

Without TruKKer’s $100 million round, the total amount raised by startups last month amounts to just under $73 million, signifying a continued slowdown in venture investment.

The amount raised by startups in other ecosystems provides a more realistic overview of the current state of affairs. In the UAE, 12 startups raised just under $27 million, in Jordan, liwwa’s $18.5 million debt and equity pre-Series B helped push the country to the third spot.

The slowdown has been tempered by accelerators in the region with 26 startups graduating from accelerators and pitch competitions, raising over $2 million between them. Flat6Labs was the most active investor last month, thanks primarily to the seven startups that graduated from its Jordan programme. This shift towards early stage funding signifies a growing desire to cut smaller cheques, leaving later stage startups with a more difficult time in raising investment.  

Twenty startups managed to pull in foreign investment, of which US investors participated in 11 deals while UK investors were with second most active, participating in seven deals. Regionally, Egyptian investors were the most active, participating in 14 deals, followed by UAE investors who participated in 11 deals.

Investors in the region remain committed to fintech, with startups in this sector securing a quarter of all the deals last month, while eight healthtech startups primarily in mental health and medtech, took the second spot in terms of number of deals.  

As ever, startups founded by men raised the overwhelming majority of the investment, while startups founded by women secured 0.03 per cent, the lowest percentage so far this year. 

Last month, 3atlana, 5 Quarters, Bona Invest, Carzami, Emonovo and Kashat did not disclose the exact amount they raised. We have assigned them a conservative amount of $100,000 each. 

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