DUBAI: Early stage funding rounds contributed 65 percent to the total number of deals struck in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region, a recent year-to-date report showed.
The region’s overall funding activity saw a strong upsurge of deals, reaching a value of $2.1 billion, and registering twice the annual funding raised over the past three years.
According to advisory firm Red Seer, early stage and Series A investments dominated the mix with over 83 percent of 220 deals.
But large investments in Series B+ rounds and debt funding “has also been observed in 2021,” it said.
The average value of deals also jumped across stages, the report showed, which Red Seer said is an indicator of “more sizable funding inflow, which will enable the robust growth over the medium term.”
Companies are also scaling up faster year-to-date, as average time between funding rounds have reduced.
“The average time between subsequent rounds has been decreasing consistently over the years now, falling below the one-year mark in 2021,” the report said.
It identified financial technology and food services as the best performing industries when it comes to investor interest, but other sectors are also on the rise including health technology and educational technology.
