Saudi-Based Startups Draw Record Number Of Deals In 2019

Posted on January 30, 2020 · 1 min read

Saudi-Based Startups Draw Record Number Of Deals In 2019 - Featured Image | MEA Markets
Share this article

Proving an outstanding year for entrepreneurship, 2019 saw Saudi Arabia’s startups attract $67 million worth of investments, a new report shows. This is an increase of 35 percent from 2018.

Last year also saw 71 investment deals, which is a staggering rise of 92 percent since 2018, and a record number in comparison to any other year, according to startup platform MAGNITT.

Additionally, there was an increase of 58 percent in institutional investors in startups based in the kingdom to a total of 41 institutions. Around one-third of these institutions were based outside Saudi, mainly in the UAE.

MAGNiTT’s Founder and CEO, Philip Bahoshy said: “There are several factors that contribute to the growth of the Saudi startup ecosystem in general: the size of its economy and population, as well as a high income per capita and internet penetration.

“This, combined with the increased government focus on the entrepreneurship sector through Funds of Funds, capital matching programs, accelerator programs, licensing schemes and other initiatives, contribute to the growth of the startup sector as a whole.”

This increase in business deals and capital funding in Saudi Arabia has placed it at the third highest spot for both categories in the MENA region, following UAE and Egypt.

The kingdom accounted for 12 percent of the total deals in the region, and 9 percent of the total funding.

You might also like

Looking for more? Gain deeper insights with these recommended articles, selected to provide further value.

April 28, 2023 Gate Capital: Best Corporate Finance Advisory Firm 2023 – MENA

Independent and trusted corporate finance and strategic advisory firm, Gate Capital Limited, offers unique expertise in deal making, financial restructuring, and opportunity investing by blending extensive experiences across multiple industry sect...

December 6, 2019 Gulf Air and Middle East Airlines in Codeshare Partnership

The agreement will see Middle East Airlines place their ‘ME’ code on Gulf Air flights on the Beirut-Bahrain-Beirut route.

June 2, 2021 Path Solutions Successfully Completes System Upgrade at KFH

Path Solutions, the global Islamic banking software company, today announced that Kuwait Finance House (“KFH”), Kuwait’s Islamic banking pioneer has successfully completed the upgrade of its fully automated STP Islamic Treasury solution to the new...

Join our newsletter.

Gain Access To Exclusive Content

Stay Updated With The Latest News

It's Free To Subscribe

By signing up, you agree to receive marketing emails.

Join our newsletter box - side image
Trusted by the best teams around the world