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Venture capital funding in Egypt rose 90% y-o-y in 1H 2025, hitting USD 185 mn in investments during the six-month period, according to Magnitt’s Emerging Venture Markets (EVM) report (pdf). The increase in investments placed Egypt in the sixth spot among the countries with the highest funding value, rising three spots compared to the same period last year. The report covers venture activity across the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia, Pakistan, and Turkey.
The ranking places Egypt behind Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which together contributed 85% of total funding and 74% of total transaction count in the MENA region. Saudi Arabia ranked second among all EVM geographies, with USD 860 mn raised from 114 investments in 1H 2025, a 116% y-o-y increase. This was partially attributed to mega transactions (over USD 100 mn), including Ninja and Tabby. The UAE logged USD 447 mn in investments (up 84% y-o-y) across 114 transactions (up 10% y-o-y) — its highest deployment since 1H 2020.
Across the region, VC funding rose 92% to USD 1.5 bn across 310 investments, according to Magnitt’s EVM press release (pdf). The figure marks the region’s strongest half-year performance since 2022 and represents 39% of total funding across emerging markets tracked by the platform. In 2Q 2025, the Middle East funding rose 22% y-o-y to USD 741 mn from 117 investments, according to the report. The region secured USD 1.4 bn across 258 investments in 1H 2025, doubling its performance compared to the same period in 2024.
Fintech was the standout sector in 1H 2025, with funding in the Middle East rising to USD 516 mn, representing 38% of total capital deployed in the region. E-commerce came in second place in terms of funding in the Middle East with USD 321 mn, followed by Enterprise Software with USD 105 mn. Across the broader MENA region, fintech attracted USD 596 mn in 1H 2025, a threefold increase y-o-y.
Who were the top performers? Riyad Capital emerged as the most active investor by capital deployed, while Plus.VC led in terms of the number of investments, according to a separate Magnitt brief (pdf). The largest disclosed transactions included Ninja’s USD 250 mn funding round, Tabby’s USD 160 mn Series E round, and AppliedAI’s USD 55 mn Series A round. These transactions helped push MENA’s mega transactions (USD 100 mn+) to outpace the full-year 2024 total within the first six months of 2025.
Some 42% of Series A and B rounds exceeded USD 20 mn, up from just 10% a year ago — reflecting a growing preference for ventures with proven traction and scalability.
Zooming further out: Total VC funding across all EVMs dropped 7% y-o-y to USD 4 bn — the lowest half-year level since 2017. The decline primarily came on the back of a 32% drop in Mega rounds and continued contraction in Southeast Asia, historically the largest EVM market.
