About 88% of MENA VC capital raised since 2024 is still on the sidelines

MENA venture capital dry powder tops USD 1.45 bn, but nine of every 10 committed USD is still on the sidelines. MENA-focused venture funds have deployed just USD 197 mn of the USD 1.64 bn raised across 17 vehicles since 2024, according to a Magnitt report seen by EnterpriseAM — leaving 88% of committed capital undeployed.

The pile is early, not idle. Venture funds typically deploy over five to seven years, and 10 of the 17 funds Magnitt tracked have committed less than 10% of their target. The pool has also grown fast: Six active funds in 2024 held USD 572 mn combined, with only USD 42 mn out the door. By 2025, 14 funds were targeting USD 1.28 bn, 89% still dry. Three more funds in 1H 2026 added USD 370 mn — all of it undeployed.

The money is going to Saudi Arabia first, the UAE second, and Egypt third, with AI mandates growing. Saudi has drawn the largest share across all three launch years. Of the USD 60 mn that 2026-vintage funds deployed in 1H, USD 33 mn went to Saudi startups and USD 7 mn to the UAE, with USD 20 mn spread across other MENA markets. Four of the 17 funds carry an explicit AI mandate.

The largest funds skew Emirati. BECO Capital's Booster Growth Fund I leads the 2024-1H 2026 cohort at USD 250 mn, followed by Shorooq Partners' Late Stage Growth Fund at USD 200 mn and Oman's Jasoor Fund at USD 180 mn.

Don’t read the 2026 fundraises as war-proof. Magnitt flags that the three funds added this year were likely raised on processes started before the US-Iran conflict, and it expects the war's real drag on new fund formation to surface in 2H 2026 and early 2027 on a six-to-nine-month transmission lag.