Mena startups raised $37 million in November
When Yahaal announced its Series A round, we expected investments to exceed $60 million in November, but a correction from the company almost halved our estimate. It wasn’t $27 million that the e-commerce company had raised, that was just its valuation after its latest round.
And so total investment in startups in November was $37.1 million, a 22 per cent fall month-on-month. Logistics and e-commerce startups accounted for the bulk of investments both in number and value, a sign of the unstoppable growth of online shopping. The GCC’s e-commerce sector is expected to grow by 600 per cent by the end of 2020, valuing it at $24 billion according to AT Kearney.
Overall, 30 startups raised investment, two from crowdfunding (Egypt-based Argineering via Kickstarter and UAE-based Fruitful Day via Eureeca), with a welcome rise in the Series A stage. As ever, the UAE dominated in terms of investment value, but startups in Egypt were able to match the number of deals in November.
The startups that raised the highest amounts in November were:
