Doha: Tech startups in Qatar received a total funding of QR34.6m across 11 deals during the year-to-date (YTD) third quarter (Q3) of 2021, which showed a 57 percent increase compared to 2020, according to the latest ‘Tech-Start Up Investments Round Up’ report by KPMG for the Mena region.
Qatar-based fintech company Spendwisor also made it to the list of the report’s ‘Top startup investments in the region’, with a $1m pre-seed funding during the period, and included local angel investors.
Qatar continues to experience a rise in the number of fintech led startups, with subsequent venture capital (VC) investments backing the country’s promising fintech space. However, delivery services in the food and beverage (F&B) sector secured the largest share in funding, KPMG has said.
The top 5 tech startup deals in Qatar during YTD Q3 2021 included: Snoonu with a $5m (QR18.2m) Series A funding which was led by its strategic partner Qatar Development Bank (QDB) with participation from multiple investors; SkipCash with a $1.92m (QR7m) Seed funding led by a group of private Qatari investors; Spendwisor with a $1m (QR3.6m) Pre-seed funding led by local angel investors; Dibsy with a $300,000 (QR1m) Pre-seed funding by local angel investors; and CWallet with a $220,000 (QR800,000) Pre-series A funding by investors including MBK Holding, 360 Nautica, and Snoonu Holding.
“The Mena region is becoming an increasingly popular investment location for both regional and international investors. Several startups are rising across the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region, thanks to the regional governments’ efforts in diversifying their economies. Interestingly, this year we are observing an increase in the average deal sizes with quicker funding rounds. Continuing the momentum from the phenomenal quarter of Q2 2021, the fintech, information services, and e-commerce sector continue to receive robust interest from investors, collectively accounting for almost 40 percent of the total funding activity in Q3 2021,” said Nizar Hneini, Partner, Advisory and Head of Digital and Innovation at KPMG in Qatar.
A total of $599.2m of funding was raised for tech startups in the Mena region during Q3 2021. Delivery service startups received $13.5m (up from $10.7m in Q2 2021), while fintech and banking startups received $118.2m, a significant increase compared to $70.3m in Q2 2021, while e-commerce startups received $107.6m, which showed a decrease compared to $117.5m in the previous quarter.
Funding for apps startups in the region also significantly decreased at $155.6m, compared to $466.3m in the previous quarter. Meanwhile, funding continued to increase for information services startups at $167.3m in Q3, compared to $40.7m in Q2, while ‘other’ startups received $27.2m of funding, compared to $155.6m in the previous quarter.
On the country-wise distribution of funding raised in the region during Q3 2021, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia received 29 percent of the funds raised, followed by Egypt (29 percent), the UAE (24 percent), Morocco (8 percent), and ‘other countries’ (10 percent). ‘Other countries’ also included Jordan (42 percent), Kuwait (17 percent), Iraq (17 percent), Qatar (8 percent), Bahrain (8 percent), and Tunisia (8 percent).
