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Dubai has received 57 percent of MENA scaleup funding and is home to 39 percent of the region’s scaleups, according to a new Dubai Chamber report.
Scaleups across the region have raised $9.1 billion as of December 2021, which represents 0.12 percent of GDP, with Dubai accounting for 57 percent of that, and the UAE 59 percent – a total of $5.4 billion.
The report, developed by Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy in cooperation with Mind the Bridge and Crunchbase, said there were 587 scaleups in the region by December 2021, compared to 139 in 2020.
The UAE accounted for the largest number of scaleups at 251 in 2021, with Saudi Arabia coming second with 106 scaleups, raising a total of $1.2 billion of growth funds, with Egypt ranking third, accounting for 84 scaleups with $1.4 billion raised.
The report also revealed that 26 MENA scaleups relocated their headquarters inside the region to boost their growth, eight of them to the UAE, seven to Saudi Arabia, four to Egypt, while 41 scaleups opted to expand their footprint beyond the MENA to the USA, the UK, France, India and Canada.
(Writing by Imogen Lillywhite; editing by Daniel Luiz)
