Venture capital investments in the UAE jumped 113% y-o-y in 2Q 2024, according to Magnitt’s 1H 2024 MENA Investor Ranking (pdf). The surge was led by six major transactions that constituted 60% of the quarter’s total funding. Despite a 31% drop in transaction volumes, the UAE saw an 11% y-o-y increase in transactions, outpacing the other top five MENA countries.

The UAE led the 75% rise in foreign investments in the MENA’s startup ecosystem with a 2.4x y-o-y increase in international venture capital investors in 1H 2024, according to a separate summary of the report. MENA was the only region among emerging venture markets to see investor number growth during the period.

The UAE and Saudi accounted for 68% of MENA-based venture investors in 1H 2024, contributing to 8% y-o-y growth in the number of local investors in the region. Three UAE investors were among the top 10 leading investors in the region by transaction count. Plus VC was the most active Emirati investor, landing the spot of fourth most active investor regionally with six early stage investments; followed by AngelSpark with five, and Dubai Future District Fund with four investments.

Shifts in regional investor composition: VC investments continue to dominate the regional startup ecosystem, comprising 53% of the investor base in 1H 2024, up from 47% in 2022, suggesting a robust environment for early-stage ventures. Investment companies now make up 19% of all investors in regional startups — up from 10% in 2020 — while the share of corporate investors declined, with that trend possibly creating gaps in funding for late-stage startups. The share of accelerator investments fell to its lowest in a decade at 9% in 1H 2024, down from 15% in 1H 2023, indicating a growing disposition towards direct investment.

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