Cairo – Mubasher: Venture capital (VC) investment in Egypt registered a 29% year-on-year (YoY) growth during the first half (H1) of 2021, according to a recent report by MAGNiTT.
With 13% of the total capital raised, every fourth transaction in the MENA region was closed by an Egyptian startup, with Egypt being the only country among the top three in the region, alongside UAE and Saudi Arabia, to see an increase in the number of deals.
In addition, Saudi Arabia and the UAE accounted for a combined 30% of investors backing Egypt-based startups, the report indicated.
The Egypt Venture Investment Report for H1-21 also highlighted that VC investments accounted for 91% of the total capital deployed in fiscal year (FY) 2020.
During H1-21, every fourth US dollar was invested in delivery and logistics startups, recording a 10x increase in funding on annual basis, according to the MAGNiTT report.
Early-stage funding in Egypt recorded an annual growth of 10% in rounds sized below $500,000.
Meanwhile, Egypt’s startups saw the highest number of deals (19) and raised the second-highest amount in the region in July with $70.7 million, as per Wamda’s latest monthly report for investments in MENA.
The UAE recorded the biggest share of $530 million out of nearly $632 million across the region, mainly due to Kitopi’s $415 million Series C funding round.
However, Egypt-based MaxAB, a wholesale food and grocery B2B enabler, raised the highest Series A funding round among the region’s e-commerce sector last month with $40 million from a total of $63 million.
