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Sunday, 13 December 2020

Egypt ranks third in November startup funding league table -Wamda

Egyptian startups raised USD 6.6 mn in venture capital funding last month, putting them in third place in MENA behind the UAE and Saudi Arabia, Wamda said in a recent report. Egypt saw nine transactions in November (tying with the UAE in first place), that included creative tech startup Argineering, which raised USD 200k through crowdfunding during the month. Other transactions we’ve noted last month include ExpandCart’s USD 2.5 mn in series A funding, Wuilt’s USD 535k seed funding round and Brantu’s USD seven-figure series A round.

Across the region, startups brought in USD 37.1 mn, down 22% from October, according to Wamda’s findings. UAE- and Saudi-based companies accounted for the lion’s share, with Emirati startups raising USD 16.5 mn and Saudi companies raising USD 8.7 mn. In total, 30 MENA startups attracted investors in November.

Top industries: The leading industries were logistics (which reeled in USD 9.4 mn), e-commerce (USD 6.2 mn), gaming (USD 6 mn), SaaS (USD 4.1 mn) and fintech (USD 4 mn). At least 63% of the investments were early stage rounds.

Background: Startups in MENA raised USD 704 mn in 2019 after a record 564 transactions, startup platform Magnitt said this summer in its 2019 MENA Venture Investment Report.

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