Egypt Leads MENA’s Startup Surge with $289M in May Funding Frenzy

Editorial Team

Last updated 4-06-2025

3 min

Startups in the Middle East and North Africa raised $289 million in May, with 44 deals.

Egypt led the region, thanks to Nawy's $75 million raise, while Saudi Arabia secured $69 million.

AI startups, despite media hype, attracted only $25 million; fintech led with $86.

5 million.

Early-stage funding was active, notably supporting B2B models, raising $157 million from 29 deals.

Gender imbalance persisted, with male-only founder teams securing 82 per cent of capital raised.

Startups across the Middle East and North Africa were on buoyant form this past May, raising an impressive $289 million thanks to 44 funding deals, according to recent data shared by Wamda. That's a 25 per cent rise compared to April figures, and also edges higher than the same month a year ago, albeit modestly, by 2 per cent. Most of the cash injection was in equity investments, with just 9 per cent credited to debt financing.

Egypt was the standout performer last month, clinching the top spot as the leading MENA startup hub, mainly fuelled by property-tech innovator Nawy's impressive raise of $75 million. An additional seven Egyptian startups pooled together another $50 million, pushing the country's funding back to its best levels since July the previous year. Meanwhile, the UAE wasn't far behind, securing around $86.7 million from 14 different deals. Saudi Arabia also enjoyed a steady month, quietly bringing in $69 million through 15 deals, and Kuwait bounced back onto the scene with two new ventures collectively bagging a commendable $6 million.

I found it particularly intriguing—especially given all the buzz on the Arageek forums lately around artificial intelligence—that AI startups attracted relatively modest funding. Despite garnering significant media attention and making headlines regularly, AI companies in the Gulf mustered just $25 million in total, shared between two startups. The fintech sector still dominated comfortably, pulling in the largest piece of the pie at about $86.5 million spread across 14 rounds. Proptech notably surged thanks to Nawy's contribution, and Mediatech startups pocketed $32 million. Construction technology (ConTech) also had a pretty solid moment in the spotlight, as WakeCap alone secured $28 million.

Early-stage funding was notably active, with $161 million overall going to startups taking their first serious steps forward. Late-stage funding, by comparison, stayed pretty low-key for the month, featuring a single pre-Series C round of $12 million. When drilling further into business models, startups targeting other businesses (B2B) appeared most attractive to investors—logging around $157 million across 29 deals. Hybrid startups catering to both businesses and consumers (B2B/B2C) scooped about $79 million, while consumer-facing (B2C) models were trailing a bit behind, gathering around $53 million from nine ventures.

Unfortunately, one sticking point remains a persistent gender imblalace. Startups with exclusively male founders pulled in a whopping 82 per cent of all capital raised. Mixed-gender teams fared moderately better, snagging 11 per cent, while teams consisting solely of women managed just 7 per cent of the total funding for May.

Overall, things have looked robust these past months. The region's startups raised over $494 million in February alone—much of which experts credit to Abu Dhabi's global tech hub, Hub71, which continues driving enthusiasm and investment, attracting attention from influential investors around the globe.

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