2. 2
Table of Contents
Foreword & Executive Summary 3
Appendix 40
| 2021 MENA Venture Investor Ranking Report
MENA Investors 2020 Ranking 18
MENA - 5YR Overview 5
Methodology & Definitions 61
MENA Investors - 5YR Evolution 12
3. 3
2021 MENA Venture Investor Ranking Report: Foreword
Following the mission to foster tech innovation in MENA, MAGNiTT, the largest venture data platform tracking startup investments,
releases a series of reports that provide a holistic overview of the region’s venture capital ecosystem.
▪ The 2021 MENA Venture Investor Ranking Report is the third in the series, a comprehensive deep dive into the investment
institutions that finance innovation in tech across MENA. This report would help to identify the investors’ activity across various
geographies, startup stages and industries, including the most active investors rankings and five-year trends.
▪ The report is based on the data set of active investment institutions, considering a firm that participated in at least one funding
round as a unique active investor in a particular country/ stage/ industry sector.
▪ What’s Inside: The report identifies trends in investors activity MENA, providing a five-year overview, together with a deep dive
into COVID-19 changes in 2020. The report also ranks top active investors in 2020 across funding stages and sectors, providing a
holistic picture of the activity of investment community. The appendix provides investors profile for each institutional investor
featured in the report.
▪ Who We Help To: This 60+ page report supports startups that are willing to fundraise and identify the right investors for the
outreach, as well as investors and governments willing to benchmark their activity. It is useful for any other stakeholders looking to
track the changes in investors focus across MENA.
| 2021 MENA Venture Investor Ranking Report
4. 4
Executive Summary – Venture Capital Review
| 2021 MENA Venture Investor Ranking Report
5. 5
MENA 5YR Funding Evolution by $M and # Deals
MENA venture capital funding crossed the $1BN threshold in 2020 for the first time
▪ Total funding was up XX% from the 2019 level, although total deal count was down by XX% to XX transactions*
▪ This increase in funding was driven in part by the $XXM Series E round of EMPG, the largest investment in 2020
▪ Later stage deals ($500K-$3M) increased by XX%, while Pre-Seed rounds (<$100K) halved YoY, a driver to the decrease in total deals
*MAGNiTT’s proprietary data is dynamic and being updated on a monthly basis, see Methodology for further details
| 2021 MENA Venture Investor Ranking Report
6. 6
MENA 2020 Share of Active Investors by HQ Geography
Despite the challenges of COVID-19, institutional investors in 2020 continued to actively support MENA-based startups
▪ In MENA, more than XX% of active investment firms were registered in the UAE (XX%), KSA (XX%) and Egypt (XX%)
▪ Every fourth active investor (XX%) in MENA had HQ registered outside of the region, primarily in the US (XX%) and Europe*(XX%)
| 2021 MENA Venture Investor Ranking Report *Europe includes EU and neighbouring countries: UK, Switzerland, Sweden
7. 7
MENA Active Investors per Funding Stage Bracket, 2019/2020
The number of unique active investors was down across all stages in 2020, except for the $10M - $100M bracket (XX%), while $500K-
$10M investments were the most frequent across MENA startup ecosystem
▪ The largest decreases in unique active investors were seen in $0-$100K (XX%) and $100K-$500K (XX%) brackets, indicating investors’
shift toward later stage deals across MENA
▪ Despite a YoY drop in active investors (XX%), the $500K-$3M stage was the most frequent in 2020
# of Active Investors by Funding Stage Bracket, 2019 - 2020
| 2021 MENA Venture Investor Ranking Report *One investor could close deals in several brackets and would be double counted in each stage
8. 8
MENA Active Investors per Top 7 Industries, 2019/2020
Despite a YoY drop in active unique investors across all top 7 industries, investors’ focus in 2020 was clearly on the sectors that
benefited from the pandemic and changing consumer habits
▪ While unique investors in E-Commerce dropped x%, compared to 2019, FinTech ranked 1st with XX firms investing in the sector,
specifically in mobile and online payment solutions
▪ Number of investors in D&L remained stable, with last mile delivery becoming the major focus during the COVID-19 pandemic
# of Active Investors by Industry, 2019 - 2020
| 2021 MENA Venture Investor Ranking Report *One investor could close deals in several industries and would be double counted in each sector
9. 9
MENA Active Investors per Top 5 Countries split by type, 2019/2020
While Egypt (XX%), KSA (XX%) and Jordan (XX%) saw the number of unique active investors increase in 2020, accelerators were
trending down across all geographies, indicating the challenging environment for offline early-stage acceleration programs
▪ The UAE was the only hub that saw the number of unique active investors drop by XX% in 2020
▪ In Saudi, active accelerators decreased by XXpp to XX% of active investors in 2020, driven by Misk 500 MENA Accelerator
# of Active Investors by type by Country, 2019 - 2020
Accelerators
Non-Accelerators
| 2021 MENA Venture Investor Ranking Report *One investor could close deals in several countries and would be double counted in each geography
11. 11
MENA 5YR Active Investors per Type Evolution
MENA VC investment ecosystem remained relatively stable for the past five years, with the largest active investors' types being VC
funds, CVCs and accelerators
▪ The share of active VC investors increased by XXpp in 2020 to a total of XX firms, while the number of active CVCs dropped by XXpp,
primarily due to the change of corporate priorities with significant budget cuts for innovation projects in 2020
Share of Active Investors by Investor Type, 2016 - 2020
Venture Capital (VC) Corporate & Corporate VC (CVC) Accelerator Angel Group Family Office
Others Government Initiative
Total Distinct # of Active Investors
| 2021 MENA Venture Investor Ranking Report
12. 12
MENA 5YR Share of Active Investors per Top 7 Countries
Despite a considerable drop (XX%) of active investors in 2020, the UAE startups still attract the most of investors’ interest, with
Egyptian and Saudi ventures ranking XXnd and XXrd
▪ Both Egypt and KSA saw the number of unique active investors increase by XX% and XX%, respectively
▪ Only XX investors in 2020 were active in the geographies other than top 7 countries, indicating the overall concentration of VC investment
across large innovation hubs
# of Active Investors per Country of the Top 7 Countries, 2016 - 2020
| 2021 MENA Venture Investor Ranking Report *One investor could close deals in several countries and would be double counted in each geography
17. 17
2020 Top 5 Investors in MENA - E-Commerce
Top 5 most active investors in E-Commerce by # of deals, 2020
| 2021 MENA Venture Investor Ranking Report
19. 19
2020 Top 5 Investors in MENA - $0K-$100K Stage Bracket
Top 5 most active investors in $0K-$100K Stage Bracket by # of deals, 2020
| 2021 MENA Venture Investor Ranking Report
23. Our proprietary database and software provides access to data from multiple sources: user-submitted data verified by MAGNiTT, aggregated public
information, data engineered by MAGNiTT. All non-engineered data is verified & curated with an extensive manual process for inclusion in this report.
Proprietary
Startups and institutions list their proprietary information on funding amount, stage, date, and investors directly onto the MAGNiTT platform. All funding
data is validated through a strict process. To ensure comprehensiveness in the data, on a quarterly basis a follow-up with all registered and verified
funding institutions on MAGNiTT occurs, requesting details on all their investments, including stage, amount, date, and other co-investors. These include
VCs, angel groups, accelerators, university funds and family offices for MAGNiTT’s focus geographies.
Public
We undertake daily gathering of public announcements and press releases on the venture funding landscape across MAGNiTT’s focus geographies.
Engineered Data
Proprietary algorithms that tap into MAGNiTT’s databases are used to create estimates for undisclosed data with factors including but not limited to year
of funding, location of startup, stage of investment and the company’s industry. This helps portray a more accurate representation of the full picture.
Below is an outline of the approach and criteria used in MAGNiTT’s research analysis
What is included:
Equity financing into private companies. Funding rounds included must be to VC-backed companies. VC-backed companies are defined as companies
that have received funding at any point from: venture capital firms, corporate venture arms, or angel investors. Where disclosed angel investments are
made at early stage these deals are included once verified.
Excludes:
It excludes debt or other non-equity funding, lending capital, grants and ICOs.
Exits:
Buyouts, M&A, secondary rounds, and IPOs are treated as exits: excluded from funding data, but included in exit data.
23
MAGNiTT’s Methodology
| 2021 MENA Venture Investor Ranking Report
24. 24
MAGNiTT encourages you to review the methodology and definitions employed to better understand the numbers presented in this report. If
you have any questions about the definitions or methodological principles used, reach out to MAGNiTT directly.
Data lags:
The data contained in this report comes directly from MAGNiTT, reported as of end of Dec 2020. Data lags are most pronounced at the earliest stages of
venture activity. The data aggregated for these rounds during the latest quarter, specifically at SEED, increases significantly after the end of that quarter.
Verified Rounds:
To ensure accuracy and confidence in our data, MAGNiTT undertakes a verification process for each funding round based on the following process:
- Direct confirmation with firm or investor
- Validated if there is a 3rd party source for the investment round from credible media sources or press releases.
- Various regulatory filings where applicable
- A round is not verified if added by a startup and has no 3rd party reference
Country HQ:
In each of our Venture Reports, the location by which the data is analysed is based on the startup’s HQ as chosen and verified by them and reflected on
the MAGNiTT platform. When analysing a particular geography, our research does not include investments in startups from diaspora founders funding for
startups who have their main HQ outside of our coverage with only a subsidiary or branch in that country.
Historical changes:
We continue to improve historical data as we further verify our data sets and expand by geography while reaching out to new funding Institutions.
Continued improvements in our technology and data operations will leads to more accurate and comprehensive data sets on the platform for our
research
● All underlying data from the report is available online via magnitt.com/funding-rounds. For more info please visit magnitt.com or contact
support@magnitt.com.
● If you feel your firm has been underrepresented, please send an email to support@magnitt.com and we can work together to ensure your firm’s
investment data up-to-date.
Estimation of Undisclosed Deal Amounts
| 2021 MENA Venture Investor Ranking Report
