A strong start in 2023 for investing in startups in the Middle East and North Africa

Pioneer Investors – Data on venture capital investments and the digital sector in the Middle East and North Africa region showed that the amount of investment in startups in last seven weeks was about $215m.

The leading startup that earned $150m round invested in last week is called ONE Moto, an electric car company in the UAE, which the total funding in 17 startups reached $242m since the beginning of January.

ONE MOTO, the UAE-based electric vehicle maker and last-mile delivery specialist has raised $150m (£123m) in funding from undisclosed UK investors.

The startup was founded in 2019 and is going to use this funding to expand its operations in the UK. The company produces electric vehicles, as well as fleet management software solutions.

The startup, Tabby, a UAE-based buy-now-pay-later platform, has raised $58 million in Series C funding at a $660 million valuation from Sequoia Capital India, STV, PayPal Ventures, Mubadala Investments, Arbor Ventures, and Endeavor Catalyst.

Tabby was founded in 2019 and it works with more than 10,000 brands and has more than 3 million active shoppers on its platform.

Since the beginning of January, 17 startups in the Arab region have received funding. Companies from the UAE acquired 64.7% of the financing, followed by Egypt with 11.7%, then Qatar, Morocco, Iraq, and Bahrain with 5.9% each.

The UAE-based spend management platform has raised $4.5 million in pre-Series A funding from Presight Capital, Y Combinator, and angel investors.

Flyby, a UAE-based delivery company, has raised $1 million in seed funding led by FHS Capital and VN2 Capital.

Al Sorayai Group, an Iraq-based delivery platform, also raised an undisclosed seven-figure funding round from undisclosed investors.

Terra, a UAE-based B2B micro-mobility startup, also raised a pre-seed funding round from undisclosed angel investors.

So, it seems that the year 2023 has begun strongly in the field of investing in emerging companies in the region, and this is an indicator that may give a glimmer of hope for what we should expect to see this year.