Startups in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region raised $563 million in January 2026, according to data compiled by the specialized platform Wamda.
This amount marks a jump of 228% compared to the previous month, achieved through funding rounds by 42 startups.
However, the recorded funding remains 35% lower than in January 2025. Wamda also highlights that debt financing played a limited role, representing only 9% of the capital raised during the month.
At the country level, the United Arab Emirates dominated the MENA ecosystem in January, totaling $426.3 million raised across 12 deals.
This performance is largely explained by two major transactions: a $230 million deal by Maal and a $170 million raise by Property Finder, which single-handedly boosted the overall volumes.
Saudi Arabia comes in second, with 18 startups collectively raising $56 million, confirming the sustained activity of its entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Egypt ranks third, with four startups mobilizing $22.1 million. Morocco, for its part, recorded $17 million raised through two deals.
Tunisia is absent from Wamda’s ranking for this month of January. No significant deals were recorded, suggesting that no Tunisian startup completed a notable funding round during the period.
Regarding sectors, fintech dominated fundraising in January, with seven startups attracting $319.7 million. Proptech comes in second, with three startups raising $189 million. SaaS startups rank third, with seven of them mobilizing a total of $17 million.
Meanwhile, the distribution of funding by development stage continues to favor early-stage companies. In total, 31 early-stage startups raised $66 million during the month.
From a business model perspective, startups targeting the general public (B2C) captured the majority of capital, raising $470.8 million across 17 deals. B2B startups recorded 19 transactions totaling $43 million, while hybrid B2B2C models raised $9 million through six deals.
Finally, it should be noted that startups founded by men accounted for 36 deals, totaling $560 million.
