فن الحرب" هو كتاب استراتيجية عسكرية كلاسيكي كتبه الجنرال الصيني سون تزو في القرن الخامس قبل الميلاد. يتكون الكتاب من 13 فصلًا، يركز كل منها على جوانب مختلفة من الحرب، مثل التخطيط والتكتيكات والقيادة.

يؤكد سون تزو على أهمية التحضير وفهم نقاط القوة والضعف الخاصة بالفرد وكذلك تلك الموجودة لدى العدو. كما يشدد على أهمية استخدام الخداع والمرونة للحصول على مزايا على ساحة المعركة.

واحدة من المفاهيم الأكثر شهرة في الكتاب هي فكرة "الفوز بدون قتال"، حيث يتم تحقيق النصر من خلال التخطيط الاستراتيجي والتحركات بدلاً من الصراع المباشر.

بشكل عام، يوفر كتاب "فن الحرب" نظرات قيمة حول طبيعة الحرب ودروس لكل من الاستراتيجيين العسكريين وقادة الأعمال والسياسيين.

الأفكار الرئيسية لكتاب "فن الحرب":

1. التحضير: يؤكد سون تزو على أهمية التحضير والتخطيط قبل الذهاب إلى المعركة. يعتقد أن النجاح في الحرب يتم تحديده قبل بدء المعركة، من خلال عوامل مثل تحليل التضاريس والطقس ونشر القوات.
2. فهم نقاط القوة والضعف: يشدد سون تزو على أهمية فهم نقاط القوة والضعف الخاصة بالفرد وكذلك تلك الموجودة لدى العدو. يقترح أن الجنرال الذي يعرف نفسه وعدوه سيفوز بالمعارك، بينما الجنرال الذي يعرف نفسه فقط أو عدوه سيفوز فقط في نصف الوقت.
3. المرونة: يشجع سون تزو على المرونة في المعركة، مقترحًا أن يكون الجنرال قادرًا على التكيف مع التغيرات وضبط استراتيجياته وفقًا لذلك. يؤكد على أهمية عدم الارتباط بأي خطة واحدة بشكل زائد، والقدرة على تغيير الخطط استجابة لمعلومات جديدة.
4. الخداع: يناقش سون تزو أهمية استخدام الخداع والتضليل في الحرب. يقترح أن يكون الجنرال قادرًا على إخفاء الحقيقة عن العدو من خلال تكتيكات مثل الخداع، والانسحابات الزائفة، وخلق مظاهر زائفة للقوة أو الضعف.
5. الفوز بدون قتال: المفهوم الأكثر شهرة لسون تزو هو فكرة "الفوز بدون قتال". يقترح أن الهدف النهائي للحرب ليس تدمير العدو، ولكن تحقيق النصر بأقل قدر من الخسائر البشرية والموارد. يدعو إلى استخدام تكتيكات مختلفة وتشمل العديد من الاستراتيجيات والتكتيكات التي يمكن استخدامها في الحرب، مثل الاستخدام الذكي للقوة العسكرية، والتناقض في السلوك والتحركات، والتغلب على العدو دون مواجهة مباشرة، والاستغلال الذكي لنقاط ضعف العدو، وتخفيض خسائر جيشك، والتأكيد على الدفاع عن القوة والهجوم بشكل متزامن، وتقليل الوقت الذي يقضيه الجيش في الحرب، وتفادي الحرب إذا كان ذلك ممكنًا.

بشكل عام، يوفر "فن الحرب" دليلًا شاملًا لإستراتيجية الحرب التي كان لها تأثير كبير على مدى القرون. لقد تم تطبيق تعاليمها ليس فقط في الحرب ولكن أيضا في المجالات الأخرى مثل الأعمال التجارية والسياسة والعديد من المجالات الأخرى.

"The Art of War" is a classic military strategy book written by Chinese general Sun Tzu in the 5th century BC. The book is composed of 13 chapters, each focusing on different aspects of warfare, such as planning, tactics, and leadership.

Sun Tzu emphasizes the importance of preparation and understanding one's own strengths and weaknesses as well as those of the enemy. He also stresses the importance of using deception and flexibility in order to gain advantages on the battlefield.

One of the most famous concepts from the book is the idea of "winning without fighting," where victory is achieved through strategic planning and maneuvers rather than direct conflict.

Overall, "The Art of War" provides valuable insights into the nature of warfare and has been studied by military strategists, business leaders, and politicians for centuries.

The main ideas of "The Art of War":

1. Preparation: Sun Tzu stresses the importance of preparation and planning before going to battle. He believes that success in warfare is determined before the battle even begins, through factors such as terrain analysis, weather, and the deployment of troops.
2. Understanding strengths and weaknesses: Sun Tzu emphasizes the importance of understanding one's own strengths and weaknesses as well as those of the enemy. He suggests that a general who knows himself and his enemy will win battles, while a general who only knows himself or his enemy will only win half the time.
3. Flexibility: Sun Tzu encourages flexibility in battle, suggesting that a general should be able to adapt to changing circumstances and adjust their strategies accordingly. He stresses the importance of not being overly attached to any one plan, and being able to change tactics in response to new information.
4. Deception: Sun Tzu discusses the importance of using deception and misdirection in warfare. He suggests that a general should be able to deceive the enemy through tactics such as feints, false retreats, and creating false appearances of strength or weakness.
5. Winning without fighting: Sun Tzu's most famous concept is the idea of "winning without fighting." He suggests that the ultimate goal of warfare is not to destroy the enemy, but to achieve victory with minimal loss of life and resources. He advocates for using tactics such as diplomacy, psychological warfare, and strategic positioning to weaken the enemy and achieve victory without engaging in direct conflict.

Overall, "The Art of War" provides a comprehensive guide to military strategy that has been influential for centuries. Its teachings have been applied not only in warfare, but also in business, politics, and many other fields.

The markets for startups in the Middle East and North Africa have once again shown significant growth in funding volume during February, contrary to expectations of a slowdown in funding growth. This comes after successfully raising more than $760 million in funding across 48 deals. This represents a 638% monthly increase in funding for startups in the Middle East and North Africa, and a 103% increase compared to January 2022.

Startups funding by country

Egyptian startups saw significant momentum in February, raising $422 million across 16 deals, taking the top spot in terms of both funding volume and number of deals. This was due to a deal by the payment application company, "Fawry", which raised about $400 million, representing approximately 95% of total Egyptian startup funding for February and nearly half of startup funding in the Middle East and North Africa for the same period.

Saudi Arabian startups came in second with a total funding of $316 million across 13 deals. The largest share of Saudi Arabian startup funding was divided between two major deals: the "Flowerd" deal, which operates a specialized online flower and gift shop, raised about $156 million, while the second deal went to the food technology company, "Nana", which raised around $133 million. The Saudi Arabian startups' share of total startup funding in February was about 41%.

Despite having the lowest funding volume in years, Emirati startups ranked third after raising only $8 million across seven deals. However, this does not necessarily indicate a downward trend in funding for Emirati startups, as the UAE remains a hub for entrepreneurship and innovation in the region.

Behind the UAE startups, Bahraini startups came with a total of 6 million dollars distributed among two deals, then Moroccan startups with around 5 million dollars distributed among seven deals. Oman's authority also recorded funding for startups amounting to about 2.7 million dollars. Additionally, startups in Iraq, Algeria, Yemen, and Tunisia each witnessed a funding deal ranging from 220,000 dollars to about 16,000 dollars.

Regarding the concentration of startup funding in the region, we find that more than 96% of startup funding in February was concentrated in Egyptian and Saudi startups. The concentration of funding deals in both countries accounted for around 60% of the total number of startup funding deals during the same period.

The average funding size per deal was more than 15 million dollars, which is about three times the average funding size per deal recorded in 2022.

Distribution of funding deals for startups according to sectors

February witnessed several changes in the funding of startup deals according to their activity sectors. The multi-use application sector came in first place in terms of funding volume, but this was due to one financing deal, namely the financing deal for the Egyptian application "Halan" which became the most comprehensive and superior application to obtain funding in the Middle East and North Africa.

The e-commerce sector came in second place after companies operating in this sector raised about $160 million from 4 deals, which is an exception, as the e-commerce sector has relatively declined over the past three years compared to other more active sectors.

Food technology companies ranked third with a total funding volume of about $136 million, distributed over 5 deals. In fourth place came the healthcare technology sector with about $16 million, followed by the financial technology sector with about $14 million distributed over 10 deals, making it the sector that receives the most funding deals for February. Thus, funding for startups is concentrated in three sectors, namely comprehensive applications, e-commerce, and food technology, which account for more than ninety percent of the investments.

Financing startups according to investment stages

Funding through growth accelerators in February was one of the most prominent stages of startups financing, as 12 financing deals were obtained through growth accelerators. In terms of the number of deals also, we find that 8 financing deals took place in the initial investment stage, followed by the pre-initial financing stage with 6 deals, then pre-series (A) financing with 4 deals, while the amount of financing in 7 deals was not announced. As for the large financing deals, it was limited to three deals, two of which are in the Series (C) financing stage, and one deal is in the Series (B) financing stage.

Translated by: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Since 2021, Middle East and North Africa start-ups have witnessed a new leap in their growth. Although start-ups in the region have seen growth in the size and number of finance deals since 2013, as of the beginning of last year, there has been an unprecedented rise in start-up growth as the incubating business environment for start-ups in both the Gulf States and Egypt has evolved. In addition, new countries have entered the line of interest in start-ups, most notably Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia.

The first half of 2022 was a new chapter in the great growth of start-ups. The total volume of deals acquired by start-ups in the region was more than $1.7 billion, with growth from the first half of last year of more than 83.7%, and up to 125% compared to total funding for start-ups in 2019-2020 in total! The number of start-up finance deals reached about 341 deals with a growth rate of about 38.6% compared to the first half of 2021 and nearly 94% compared to 2020 in total.

In the following lines, we will take a look at the situation of start-ups in the Middle East and North Africa for the first half of 2022, where funding is distributed geographically and sectorally, along with gender distribution, start-up funding phases, and others.

Distribution of Start-up Finance by Country

UAE start-ups have taken the lead in the Middle East and North Africa over the past decade in recent years, Saudi start-ups have advanced and become strong competitors of Emirati companies as a hub for attracting bold finance. In recent years, Saudi startups have advanced and become a strong competitor to Emirati companies as a center for attracting venture capital, thanks to economic reforms, developing the business environment for startups, and supporting and establishing investment funds to finance them. Egypt has also focused on supporting start-ups by improving the investment environment and supporting the establishment of investment funds, and providing facilities for foreign investors and entrepreneurs, which transformed the focus of corporate transaction finance over the past years.

While most start-up financing is concentrated in the UAE, both Saudi and Egyptian start-ups have a balanced share of the size of these investments. However, UAE start-ups continued to acquire the biggest share of total finance in the first half of last year, UAE companies received approximately 45% of total start-up finance. Start-ups in Saudi Arabia and Egypt received 28% and 9% respectively, but in the first line of 2022, changes emerged in the concentration of funding for start-ups in the region, The percentage of funding received by UAE start-ups was about 37.4% and althought it leads the list of the most attractive countries to fund the region's start-ups, its share shrank by about 7.5% compared to the first half of last year.

The decline was in favor of the expansion of Saudi Arabia and Egypt, with Saudi start-ups' share of total financing reaching about 32.7%, a difference of less than 5% from the UAE. Egyptian start-ups accounted for about 18.5%, up 3.5%  compared to the same period last year. In the fourth place, Bahraini start-ups finished at 6.5%, which is more than 4.5% growth compared to the same period. It is also a significant rise in absolute numbers. According to the data of the first half of this year, Bahrain can be classified as a central country in attracting funding for start-ups in the region.

Sectoral Distribution of Start-up Finance

Since 2013, e-commerce start-ups have accounted for the largest share of total finance, but this has begun to change over the past two years. After e-commerce companies are extensively providing services, new start-ups entering the e-commerce market is difficult especially with the entry and expansion of large players in the Gulf and Egyptian market such as Amazon. At the same time, there was a need to improve and digitize the fintech market, this prompted the emerge of dozens of start-ups in the Middle East and North Africa region. This changed the trends of start-up financing to those companies that accounted for the largest share of funding in the past year by 18%, while the e-commerce share was only 12%. Besides the emerge of fintech companies, start-ups have also emerged in other areas, most notably health, education, food and agricultural technology.

In the first half of this year, fintech start-ups accounted for about 38.4% of total finance, with growth from the first half of last year reaching approximately 6.4%, In second place, agro-technology companies came in at about 21%, but about 50% of the total financing received by agro-technology companies belongs to the UAE company Pure Harvest. Therefore, it cannot be seen as a clear indicator of the growth of the agro-technology sector, as the number of agro-technology companies that received funding during the same period has not exceeded four. On the other hand, start-ups active in logistics, health and education technology and software show increasing and more sustained growth both in terms of the number of deals and the amount of funding received over the past two years.

Start-up Financing Stages

With the increase in the number of business accelerators in the region, particularly in the Arabian Gulf and Egypt, the number of start-ups receiving financing through fast-growing companies or so-called business incubators has risen. The proportion of start-up investment deals funded through business accelerators in the first half of this year reached about 27%, however, seed and pre-seed funding continued to dominate the start-up finance landscape. The proportion of companies that received an initial funding round reached about 22% and nearly 10% of start-ups received pre-establishment funding rounds. While the proportion of companies that obtained financing in the series (A) and (B) stages was limited to 4.8% and 3%, respectively, and the financing in the Series (C) stage was limited to only one company.

Funding Disaggregated by Gender

Data for the first half of 2022 show significant progress in terms of the high proportion of funding obtained by women-run start-ups rising to about 93% compared to the first half of last year. The percentage of funding received by these companies was about 2.7%.

 Translated by: Fairouz Alnajem

May witnessed start-ups' funding decline in the Middle East and North Africa by about 40% compared to April, as the mentioned start-ups earned only $176 M, in return, the number of start-up transactions rose by 31% over the same period.

Geographical Distribution of Start-Ups' Deals in Size and Number

For the first time, Egyptian start-ups raised the largest funding in the Middle East and North Africa. Egyptian start-ups' funding amounted to about $81 M, as a result of 11 transactions held in May, this also placed it at the forefront of the region's start-ups for the number of transactions.

While Saudi and UAE start-ups were ranked second and third with $46 M and $45 M respectively. In the same order, Saudi and UAE companies came in the 9th and 8th respectively in the number of transactions.

The Egyptian startups' lead was influenced by the Paymob transactions, which successfully raised $50 million in a Series B funding round, which is a huge increase in the funding for this year's leading financial services company, with a 135% increase compared to last year.

The ranking of start-ups on the list of the most collectible funding companies for May was also influenced by the big transaction in which financial technology activist Hyperpay collected $36.7 M funding.

For the amount of funding received by Egyptian, Saudi and UAE start-ups, the total amount collected by startups in other countries is no more than $5 M! That is, its share of funding rate for May is about 3%. This obviously indicates the continuous concentration of funding for startups in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which is worth mention as it often creates the false impression of the average size of finance transactions. by excluding other countries' startups, the average transaction size is about $6 M, on the other hand, the average size of the transaction for startups, excluding Egyptian, Saudi and UAE companies, is about $ 360 K!

Sectoral distribution of size and number of startups' deals

The sectoral distribution was not far from the influence of the transactions collected by the aforementioned start-up. While the fintech sector came first with about $ 112 M as a result of 6 funding transactions, the most important of which was Paymob's transaction, which collected to the sector $ 50 M. The second was logistic services, with about $15.7 M followed by the mobility sector with about $12.6 M

Investment Stages in Start-Ups

Early-stage investment has captured about 28% of total start-up financing in May, with 10% increase compared to April. On the other hand, recent-stage investment witnessed a significant decline compared to the same period.

Distribution of transactions by gender

For the second month on row, female-and-male-run start-ups were able to obtain more than 12% of the total start-ups' funding transactions. However, male-run companies continued to dominate the start-ups fundings, reaping 87.4% of the total funding, compared to 0.04% for women-run companies.

Translated by: Pirween B. Sido 

Startups in the Middle East and North Africa succeeded in obtaining investments worth 297 million dollars from 29 deals in April this year. The volume of investments represents a growth of more than 60% compared to the same period last year.

Geographical distribution of the number and size of startups' deals

There is nothing new in April in terms of the geographical distribution of the value and number of deals. Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt, respectively, continue to lead the startup financing scene in the region. These countries collectively reaped a total of $195 million, or more than 65% of the total value deals. In terms of deal distribution, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt have captured about 82% of the total deals, which is a large concentration in terms of number and volume of deals for April compared to previous periods. On the other hand, there has been significant difference in the volume of deals acquired by Saudi companies compared to startups in other countries, reaching more than $195 million. In terms of investment trend in the startups, it has been observed unprecedented increase in the average transaction size, as it recorded more than 10.2 million dollars in April, which is twice the average transaction size for 2021.

Sectoral distribution of the number and size of startups' deals

The sectoral distribution of the volume of deals for startups was affected by a few huge deals, most notably FOODICS, a platform specialized in financial technology and restaurant management. This company raised more than 170 million dollars in April, and given that the company’s specialization is classified as “service software.” This sector took the lead with $171 million from two deals. The e-commerce sector came in second place with $37 million, also affected by the second largest financing deal, in April, of the UAE company Millennial Brand, which raised $35 million. The real estate technology sectors came in the third place, with $20 million in funding, followed by the agricultural technology sector, in the fourth place, which received $18 million in funding. On the other hand, the financial technology sector fell to the fifth place with $9.8 million funding, from 4 deals. Although the financial technology sector came in the fifth place in terms of the volume of deals, it is in the first place in terms of the number of deals, which indicates that financial technology companies have maintained a significant share of deals, in spite of its relative decline compared to other sectors in terms of the volume of deals.

Stages of investment in startups

Although seed and pre-seed financing phases acquired most of the deals of startups in April, with 58% of the total number of deals, the largest volume of financing went to deals in advanced stages, of which the most important is the category (C) financing phase, that is the funding that went to the FOODICS startup, which raised $170 million, as mentioned earlier.

Distribution by gender

Startups founded by men still dominate the startup financing scene in the region. They obtained about 87% of the total deals of startups in April, while the funding obtained by female startups did not exceed the 1%. On the other hand, the jointly managed startups succeeded in obtaining 12% of total funding thanks to the Millennial Brand’s deal.

2021 can be described as the year of startups par excellence, as it was an exceptional year for startups at all levels. Despite all the difficulties and challenges related to the spread of the Corona virus epidemic, what startups in the Middle East and North Africa achieved in 2021 did not achieve in all previous years!

In this article, we will take a comprehensive look at the state of startups in the region, and tell you everything you need to know about the state of startups in the Middle East and North Africa in 2021.

First: the development of investments in start-ups

During more than a decade, the business environment for emerging companies has developed in the Arab region, especially in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, specifically the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, which have worked to develop the business environment to incubate entrepreneurship through a wide range of incubators and accelerators of the business sector and the governmental sector. Egypt has also witnessed a remarkable development in the business environment. The development in the Arab entrepreneurship ecosystem is reflected in improving the legislative and legal environment and in launching a large number of startup incubators, including Flat6Labs, Falak and Injaz Egypt.

The development in the business environment for startups in the region has translated into a huge increase in the number and size of investment deals in startups, as the total volume of deals for start-ups increased by more than 1280% between 2013 and 2021, and with a growth rate of 312% compared to 2020, which witnessed a slowdown in the growth rate due to the direct repercussions of the spread of the Corona epidemic.

In terms of the number of investment deals in startups, it also increased significantly between 2013 and 2021, and while the number of deals for startups in 2013 did not exceed 148 deals, in 2021 it amounted to 561 deals. The following figure shows the development of investment in companies in the region between 2013 and 2021 in terms of the volume and number of investment deals.

As shown in the figure, the volume of investments in 2021 alone is equivalent to the volume of investments in emerging companies in the region during the period 2017 and 2020 combined. This indicates the significant development that occurred in 2021.

Second: Startups in the Middle East and North Africa for 2021

The following chart shows the volume of deals for startups during 2021 and their growth on a monthly basis. The figure shows the upward curve of investment in startups throughout the past year. The quarterly growth of the volume of deals for startups reached 48%, 32% and 104%, respectively, while the growth rate for the last quarter of the same year decreased by 74%. This decline can be explained by the exceptional rise in the third quarter of the year, specifically in July, when the total volume of deals reached more than 632 million dollars. As for the semi-annual growth level, it reached about 91%. In general, the data before us heralds new levels of investment in start-up companies. The number of startup deals in the second half of 2021 also increased by 28% compared to the first half. This rise is accompanied by a growth in the average size of one deal, which rose from about $3.7 million in the first half to more than $5.6 million in the second half.

Third: Distribution startups financing by country for 2021

The Emirati startups continued to dominate the scene in terms of startup financing, as Emirati companies accounted for about 52% of the total investments received by emerging companies during 2021, followed by the Saudi startups, which came in second place with 24% of the total investments, then Egypt with 15%, and in fourth place, came Jordan with 4% of the total investments. Despite the continued dominance of the UAE in the forefront, and then Saudi Arabia and Egypt, in terms of investments in startups in the Arab region, this year witnessed the entry of new countries to the list, which was limited to 7 to 9 countries at best in the past. The list expanded to include 15 Arab countries , the most recent of which was Sudan, which ranked last on the list. In terms of absolute figures, new regions showed remarkable growth, specifically the Maghreb region, the Levant countries, specifically Jordan and Palestine, in addition to Iraq, which is witnessing a growth in the volume and number of deals for startups.

Fourth: Distribution of the number of startup deals by country 2021

In contrast to the distribution of the volume of investments by countries, which shows a strong concentration on the UAE, the distribution of the number of startup deals shows less concentration on the UAE, which despite issuing the largest number of startup financing deals, about 72% of the deals are distributed to emerging companies from outside the UAE, most notably Egypt, which came in the second place with 25% followed by Saudi Arabia with 24%, then Jordan with 7%, Morocco with 4%, and Tunisia and Bahrain with 3% each.

Fifth: The annual average of the volume of deals for startups by countries for the year 2021

The size and number of startups deals is reflected in the average size of a single deal, and while it is a good indicator of the development of investments in startups, it must take into account the anomaly value that may mislead the reader, as we can see from the graph that the highest rate of average one deal size is for Algerian startups at $15 million per deal. However, this number hides the significant decrease in the number of deals for startups in Algeria, which was limited to only two deals! While the average size of one deal in the UAE can be considered more reflective of the development and growth of the volume of investment in emerging companies, in which the size of one deal amounted to more than 8.8 million dollars. The same applies to the case of Saudi startups, whose average transaction size is about $4.8 million.

Sixth: Distribution of startup investments by sector for 2021

2021 was a distinguished year in terms of distributing the investments of emerging companies by sector. The food technology sector appeared for the first time to top the list of investments distribution, with 26% of the total investments, followed by the financial technology sector with 21%, a sector that has witnessed steady growth since the year 2019, while the e-commerce sector ranked third with 16%, this sector is experiencing a relative decline, as we have indicated on more than one occasion. The decline of the e-commerce sector is due to the state of saturation that the main Arab markets have reached, although this does not mean that this sector has completely disappeared. E-commerce in the Arab region still needs more expansion and development, but competition in this sector has become more difficult with the rise of many companies that occupied large sectors of the market, and finally the entry of the e-commerce giant Amazon to the most important Arab markets (Saudi Arabia and the UAE) and last year it entered the Egyptian market.

Seventh: Distribution of the number of startup deals by sector for 2021

In contrast to the distribution of the volume of deals of emerging companies that focus on food technology, the distribution of the number of deals for emerging companies was less concentrated among the main sectors on the one hand, and on the other hand, the large number of sectors in which startups succeeded in obtaining financing rounds are, most notably the agricultural technology sector, artificial intelligence, environmentally friendly technology, and other sectors. This distribution indicates the existence of promising opportunities for emerging companies that are active in areas far from the main sectors that have always reaped the largest share of funding, and perhaps the most evidence of this is the decline of the e-commerce sector in favor of the financial technology sector in the past two years, and the displacement of the food technology sector by the technology sector, which took the lead in 2021. So it will not be surprising that companies operating in different sectors are competing for funding this year.

Eighth: Investment stages for start-up companies during 2021

Investment deals in start-up companies in 2021 focused on the initial funding stage (1), with more than 32%, and in the pre-incorporation stage by about 15%, an increase of 2% over the first half of the same year, while the stage of “accelerated growth companies” came in the third place with 15%, and fourthly, financing of category “A” with approximately 9%, while the pre-financing stage of category “A” (2) accounted for about 7%.

Ninth: Distribution of investments by startup companies for 2021 by gender

The share of funding received by startups founded by females is still small compared to the companies founded by males, as the share of funding received by companies founded by females to the total funded startups did not exceed 1.2%. The year 2021 made significant progress, as a number of distinguished financing deals for women-led companies emerged, perhaps the most important of which were the iMile and BitOasis deals, through which the two companies raised $40 million and $30 million, respectively. It is worth noting that the UAE ranked first in terms of the volume of funding and the number of deals of women-led startups, as Emirati startups received investments worth $187 million through 46 deals. Saudi Arabia ranked second, where startups founded by a team of men and women succeeded in raising about $14 million through 9 deals. Egypt came in third place, with total investments of nearly $12 million through 20 deals.

Explanatory notes:

• Initial financing or financing coming from family and friends, is one of the ways of offering securities, where some parties related to the new startup invest an amount that enables the startup to start its business and continue in the market, until it reaches the stage of being able to finance itself or being able to creating value that makes the startup attractive for investors to invest in. It should be noted that seed funding may be a form of crowdfunding.

• Series A Financing, also known as A Round Financing. It is the first round of financing offered to a startup company in which venture capitalists participate, and it comes after the seed round stage. This is usually done when outside investors are given ownership of the company for the first time. This financing is usually provided in the form of preferred shares, and may include anti-reduction provisions in case of more financing being provided, or in the form of common shares or preferred shares in the future.

Sources:

- Press releases issued by start-up companies.

- Wamda Foundation.

Translation By: Fairouz Alnajem

In August, start-ups in the Middle East and North Africa raised about $160 million through 44 transactions. Here are the top 5 transactions for Start-Ups in the region during August, noting that the following list does not include transactions which financing has not been announced.

First: Tabby Company

Country: UAE

Sector: Fintech

Establishment Date: 2019

Founder: Hossam Arab

Tabby, a fintech company specialized in the service of "Buy Now Pay Later", operating in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, has received a Series B investment round worth $50 million, making it the largest investment round for a start-up in the United Arab Emirates, Middle East and North Africa in August. The company aspires to use the new investments to expand the Tabby product portfolio and launch it into new markets in the Arab Gulf states.

Second: Red Sea Farms

Country: Saudi Arabia

Sector: agricultural technology

Establishment Date: 2018

Founders: Ryan Lefers and Mark Tester

Red Sea Farms, an agricultural technology company, has raised an additional $6 million, bringing its pre-first funding round to nearly $16 million, led by a group of major Saudi and Emirati investors. Red Sea Farms' technology makes commercial farming of products using saltwater possible. The investment round obtained by the company will enable the company to accelerate the ability of Red Sea Farms to expand its operations in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East.

Third: Maxab

Country: Egypt

Sector: E-commerce

Establishment Date: 2018

Founder: Bilal Al Maghribi

Maxab e-commerce company obtained additional funding from its first financing round announced last July, and the size of the new financing amounted to about $15 million, bringing the total amount it raised during its first round to about $55 million, and it also announced its acquisition of WaystoCap, an e-commerce platform Based in Morocco, for an undisclosed value. Maxab offers its services to traditional retailing across Egypt, Maxab's services are to provide business intelligence tools that allow suppliers to accurately predict, monitor and control the impact of their strategies in real time.

Fourth: Tharwa

Sector: Fintech

Country: United Arab Emirates

Establishment Date: 2017

Founder: Mark Chahwan, Jad Sayegh and Nadine Mezher

Tharwa Fintech has secured $15 million in Series B funding. Tharwa aims to revolutionize how young professionals grow their fortunes by bringing smart, simple and affordable digital investment to the region. According to the company's press release, the new investment will support Tharwa in its growth and enables it to reach millions of other users.

Fifth: Mabaat

Sector: Real Estate

Country: Saudi Arabia

Establishment Date: 2019

Founders: Talal Bin Saleh Al Sorayai

Mabaat, which specializes in property management and operation in short and medium-term leasing operations, obtained through a seed investment round a total of $2.4 million. According to Mabaat's press release, it will use the new funding to raise awareness of its digital platform and enhance its value, both to property owners and guests

Edited and Translated by: Hayat Hernández

Amongst the numerous problems we are facing on our planet is food security dilemma, and food waste is considered one of the most critical causes of it.

MENA countries are the most prodigal according to the recent article published by Wamda, which has highlighted the case of food waste in the Arab region, as the GCC are among the most wasteful countries internationally.

Governmental Efforts

Middle Eastern governments are trying to put their tangible force to confront this problem. Both the UAE and Saudi Arabia have pledged to cut down 50 per cent of their food waste and loss by 2030, aligning their policies with the United Nations’ 12.3 Sustainable Development Goal, according to the mentioned article.

Startups innovative role

Wamda has illustrated the innovative solutions conducted by new startups in MENA, inciting their determination to deal with the local food system inefficiencies.

The illustration bellow demonstrates the allocation of recent startups specialized in addressing food wastage in Arab countries.

The role of biotechnology regarding food waste

Using biotechnology, to repurpose the damaged and imperfect crops is becoming a very effective way to produce fuel or fertilizer besides composting. As well as applying technology that uses plant derivatives to extend product shelf life.

Food preservation startup Uvera is operating with these methods by using FDA-approved UV light exposure to extend the shelf life of meat, baked goods, and fresh produce by 20-60 per cent.

As stated by Wamda, the startup plans to raise a second fundraising round in May this year and officially launch in 2022.

Awareness

Cultural awareness is very significant when it comes to food waste, and sustainable food-tech startups are determined to tackle the issue concentrating on redistributing excess food and change consumer habits.

TeKeya founded in 2019, is a good example for this matter, it is a social enterprise that offers restaurants two options for the redistribution of their surplus food. It offers either selling healthy imperfect food with a 50% discount or donate them to charities in need of this food through an application.

Obstacles and challenges

Despite of the governments concrete effort and startups innovative activity, in the less developed startup ecosystems, many obstacles are still faced regarding food waste.

Fooddeals, founded in 2020 in Morocco is still encountering challenges considering local VCs are limited in the northwest African region.

Nevertheless the app offers two solutions to reduce the amount of food loss either by a discount on surplus food for local food providers or donating them to NGOs.

Although there has been a positive change regarding food waste in MENA region thanks to the recent innovative startups, effective steps to fight the issue require heavier partnerships between foodtech businesses, regulatory authorities, and every participant in the food supply chain.

In alliance with Microsoft, the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) will offer owners of local startups the resources and tools to “scale their businesses”. Another tech entity, Plug & Play, is also part of this initiative.

“The partnerships are part of ADIO’s commitment to supporting innovation-focused companies,” said Dr. Tariq Bin Hendi, Director-General of ADIO. “We are providing strategic funding and support to the knowledge and tech experts to develop and run programmes that accelerate opportunities in Abu Dhabi for startups.”

Startup focussed

Microsoft will brings its Startups Programme, which provides technology, Azure cloud services, and business support tools to develop the required skillsets.
The first two are the Growth X Accelerator, a virtual accelerator programme with a focus on recruiting local and regional startups, and ‘Highway to 100 Unicorns’, an initiative to recruit high-potential startups for the Accelerator as well as future programmes by Microsoft and ADIO.

Further initiatives focused on entrepreneurship for Emiratis and UAE residents, as well as university students, are in the works.

“We are committed to deepening our support for investors and innovators in 2021,” said Bin Hendi.
“As the global economy looks to the future, Abu Dhabi’s ecosystem is well-positioned as the region’s foremost investment destination for big thinkers to realise their ambitions.”

source: gulfnews