July wasn't a "good month" - it was practically a regime change. Funding in MENA didn't trickle back; it flooded in
The headline numbers:
🔆 783m across 57 startups in July - up 1,411% MoM and >2× YoY
🔆 Two mega rounds did the heavy lifting, responsible for 56% of the month's capital
Who led:
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia stayed on top: $396.5m over 16 deals
🇦🇪 UAE close behind: $359m across 22 startups
🇮🇶 Iraq to #3 (a single $15m round for InstaBank)
🇲🇦 Morocco to #4 (Ora at $7.5m).
🇪🇬 Egypt slipped to #5 with $4m across 7 deals - macro + FX still biting I fear!
What got funded:
➖ Deeptech > Fintech for once: $250.3m (4 deals) vs $61m (11 deals)
➖ Ecommerce made a comeback at $250m (Ninja's record raise did the heavy lifting and surprised a number of us. This is a cutthroat sector with soo much competition; what did the investors see that we missed 🤔)
➖ SaaS posted $89m across 12 deals (and I thought 💭 SaaS was dead ☠️)
Stage mix:
➕ Later-stage rounds: $158m
➕ Series A: $267m
➕ Early stage: $36m across 26 companies
➕ Debt barely registered (~2%), so this was an equity-led rally
Business models:
⭕️ B2C is back: $534m led by XPANCEO and Ninja 🥷🏽 نينجا
⭕️ B2B still meaningful at $202.4m
The uncomfortable truth:
❌ Funding skew remains stark.
❌ Female led: $3m (8 deals); Visibility is improving; allocation isn't
⸻
Why these numbers matters:
✅ Signal > noise: 7️⃣ months into 2025, MENA has already topped all of 2024. This isn't a dead-cat 🐈⬛ bounce; it's renewed conviction hopefully
✅ Depth is forming: The market can now support IP-heavy deeptech and scale hungry consumer plays at the same time - a healthier barbell than the fintech only wave of recent years
✅ Geography is widening: Iraq and Morocco entering the top ranks suggests capital is testing new frontiers, not just recycling into usual hubs (although might be one-offs)
✅ Concentration risk is real: With 56% concentrated in two deals, we're still one or two outcomes away from volatile monthly prints
⸻
What I'm watching next:
👀 Saudi & UAE late-stage velocity
👀 Egypt's reset in the coming months
👀 Deeptech follow-through
👀 Gender capital gap
⸻
🗣️ July showed what happens when conviction meets capacity. If this cadence holds, MENA isn't just "catching up" - it's setting the pace in deeptech, AI, logistics, energy, and cross-border commerce, powered by strategic geography, young talent, and increasingly pro-innovation policy. I guess the ☝️ question on everyone's mind:
Is July a new baseline or a beautiful outlier?
The headline numbers:
🔆 783m across 57 startups in July - up 1,411% MoM and >2× YoY
🔆 Two mega rounds did the heavy lifting, responsible for 56% of the month's capital
Who led:
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia stayed on top: $396.5m over 16 deals
🇦🇪 UAE close behind: $359m across 22 startups
🇮🇶 Iraq to #3 (a single $15m round for InstaBank)
🇲🇦 Morocco to #4 (Ora at $7.5m).
🇪🇬 Egypt slipped to #5 with $4m across 7 deals - macro + FX still biting I fear!
What got funded:
➖ Deeptech > Fintech for once: $250.3m (4 deals) vs $61m (11 deals)
➖ Ecommerce made a comeback at $250m (Ninja's record raise did the heavy lifting and surprised a number of us. This is a cutthroat sector with soo much competition; what did the investors see that we missed 🤔)
➖ SaaS posted $89m across 12 deals (and I thought 💭 SaaS was dead ☠️)
Stage mix:
➕ Later-stage rounds: $158m
➕ Series A: $267m
➕ Early stage: $36m across 26 companies
➕ Debt barely registered (~2%), so this was an equity-led rally
Business models:
⭕️ B2C is back: $534m led by XPANCEO and Ninja 🥷🏽 نينجا
⭕️ B2B still meaningful at $202.4m
The uncomfortable truth:
❌ Funding skew remains stark.
❌ Female led: $3m (8 deals); Visibility is improving; allocation isn't
⸻
Why these numbers matters:
✅ Signal > noise: 7️⃣ months into 2025, MENA has already topped all of 2024. This isn't a dead-cat 🐈⬛ bounce; it's renewed conviction hopefully
✅ Depth is forming: The market can now support IP-heavy deeptech and scale hungry consumer plays at the same time - a healthier barbell than the fintech only wave of recent years
✅ Geography is widening: Iraq and Morocco entering the top ranks suggests capital is testing new frontiers, not just recycling into usual hubs (although might be one-offs)
✅ Concentration risk is real: With 56% concentrated in two deals, we're still one or two outcomes away from volatile monthly prints
⸻
What I'm watching next:
👀 Saudi & UAE late-stage velocity
👀 Egypt's reset in the coming months
👀 Deeptech follow-through
👀 Gender capital gap
⸻
🗣️ July showed what happens when conviction meets capacity. If this cadence holds, MENA isn't just "catching up" - it's setting the pace in deeptech, AI, logistics, energy, and cross-border commerce, powered by strategic geography, young talent, and increasingly pro-innovation policy. I guess the ☝️ question on everyone's mind:
Is July a new baseline or a beautiful outlier?
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