Companies in the UAE raised $699 million in the first half of 2022, ranking the Emirates as the leading country for venture capital financing in the Middle East and North Africa, according to data platform Magnitt.
The Emirates was also the leader in terms of deals, which grew 10 per cent in the six-month period from a year ago, Magnitt said in a report on Tuesday.
The UAE also hosted the biggest deal — a $181m convertible note mega-round for Abu Dhabi-based Pure Harvest in June, marking the 10th straight year that the UAE has hosted a mega-round, which is funding worth $100m or more.
The UAE attracted more than $1.47 billion in venture capital in 2021.
Saudi Arabia and Egypt were second and third, respectively, in both funding and deals closed. The kingdom attracted $584m, a more than threefold rise from the first half of 2022, on 79 deals, while Egypt funding more than doubled to $307m on 78 deals.
Investments in Bahrain surged almost eightfold to $116m, placing the country in fourth place, followed by Tunisia which grew a third to $36m. In terms of deals, the countries swapped places to keep their top-five rankings.
Easy access to diverse funding channels and favourable legislative tools in the UAE are “helping build one of the most globally attractive landscapes for start-ups and entrepreneurs”, said Ahmed Al Naqbi, chief executive of Emirates Development Bank, which sponsored the study.
“With the recognition that today’s business landscape is changing at a faster pace in a hyper-connected world, the UAE has, over the past decade, made significant strides in growing a business-friendly ecosystem enabling the immense talent pool across the country to tap into opportunities easier than ever before,” Mr Al Naqbi wrote.
The growth of start-ups has accelerated in tandem with the increase in digitalisation in key sectors such as retail, services, e-commerce and governments.
Globally, the value created by start-ups is about $3 trillion, which is almost at par with the gross domestic product of a G7 economy, according to advisory firm Startup Genome. Funding for these companies broke records in 2021 when it hit $621bn, according to CB Insights.
“Year-on-year, the UAE continues to solidify its position as a leading hub for innovation in the region. We are consistently witnessing the birth and growth of pioneering, UAE-born, solutions for the region and the world across verticals,” Noor Sweid, managing partner at Dubai-based Global Ventures, said in the Magnitt report.
The study showed that the financial technology industry led the funding raised in the first half, moving up from second place a year ago, as investments more than tripled to $234m.
Agriculture jumped four spots to second, with $181m. In third and fourth places, fashion and lifestyle ($50m) and health care ($50m), also grew multifold. Transport and logistics dropped from the top spot to fifth as funding declined 40 per cent to $40m.
In terms of number of deals, FinTech still led the way with 28, a 65 per cent rise on the previous period. E-commerce secured nine deals, and transport and logistics eight, with educational technology and health care each striking five deals. EdTech deals surged by 150 per cent.
More than half of capital deployed in the UAE during the first half was concentrated in the year’s top five deals, compared to 77 per cent in the corresponding period a year ago. Pure Harvest alone drove more than a quarter of the venture capital raised.
The UAE has, over the past decade, made significant strides in growing a business-friendly ecosystem enabling the immense talent pool across the country to tap into opportunities easier than ever before
Ahmed Al Naqbi,
chief executive of Emirates Development Bank
Early-stage funding remained the dominant trend in the UAE at 80 per cent, which is at similar levels compared to the previous four years. Series A rounds were next at 11 per cent, followed by Series B with 8 per cent.
The UAE also posted a new half-year record in investment exits, with 10 in the first half of 2022, which is more than a quarter of all exits announced in Mena over the six-month period, Magnitt said.
The figure — which is double that of Saudi Arabia's — keeps the Emirates on pace to break the 11 exits in 2018 and 2021, and 15 in 2019.
FinTech, e-commerce, enterprise software and real estate start-ups were among the most sought after acquisitions in the UAE in the first half of 2022, the report added.
The National photo project
Chris Whiteoak, a photographer at The National, spent months taking some of Jacqui Allan's props around the UAE, positioning them perfectly in front of some of the country's most recognisable landmarks. He placed a pirate on Kite Beach, in front of the Burj Al Arab, the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland at the Burj Khalifa, and brought one of Allan's snails (Freddie, which represents her grandfather) to the Dubai Frame. In Abu Dhabi, a dinosaur went to Al Ain's Jebel Hafeet. And a flamingo was taken all the way to the Hatta Mountains. This special project suitably brings to life the quirky nature of Allan's prop shop (and Allan herself!).
Gender pay parity on track in the UAE
The UAE has a good record on gender pay parity, according to Mercer's Total Remuneration Study.
"In some of the lower levels of jobs women tend to be paid more than men, primarily because men are employed in blue collar jobs and women tend to be employed in white collar jobs which pay better," said Ted Raffoul, career products leader, Mena at Mercer. "I am yet to see a company in the UAE – particularly when you are looking at a blue chip multinationals or some of the bigger local companies – that actively discriminates when it comes to gender on pay."
Mr Raffoul said most gender issues are actually due to the cultural class, as the population is dominated by Asian and Arab cultures where men are generally expected to work and earn whereas women are meant to start a family.
"For that reason, we see a different gender gap. There are less women in senior roles because women tend to focus less on this but that’s not due to any companies having a policy penalising women for any reasons – it’s a cultural thing," he said.
As a result, Mr Raffoul said many companies in the UAE are coming up with benefit package programmes to help working mothers and the career development of women in general.
Cases of coronavirus in the GCC as of March 15
Saudi Arabia – 103 infected, 0 dead, 1 recovered
UAE – 86 infected, 0 dead, 23 recovered
Bahrain – 210 infected, 0 dead, 44 recovered
Kuwait – 104 infected, 0 dead, 5 recovered
Qatar – 337 infected, 0 dead, 4 recovered
Oman – 19 infected, 0 dead, 9 recovered
Day 3 stumps
New Zealand 153 & 249
Pakistan 227 & 37-0 (target 176)
Pakistan require another 139 runs with 10 wickets remaining
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Country-size land deals
US interest in purchasing territory is not as outlandish as it sounds. Here's a look at some big land transactions between nations:
Louisiana Purchase
If Donald Trump is one who aims to broker "a deal of the century", then this was the "deal of the 19th Century". In 1803, the US nearly doubled in size when it bought 2,140,000 square kilometres from France for $15 million.
Florida Purchase Treaty
The US courted Spain for Florida for years. Spain eventually realised its burden in holding on to the territory and in 1819 effectively ceded it to America in a wider border treaty.
Alaska purchase
America's spending spree continued in 1867 when it acquired 1,518,800 km2 of Alaskan land from Russia for $7.2m. Critics panned the government for buying "useless land".
The Philippines
At the end of the Spanish-American War, a provision in the 1898 Treaty of Paris saw Spain surrender the Philippines for a payment of $20 million.
US Virgin Islands
It's not like a US president has never reached a deal with Denmark before. In 1917 the US purchased the Danish West Indies for $25m and renamed them the US Virgin Islands.
Gwadar
The most recent sovereign land purchase was in 1958 when Pakistan bought the southwestern port of Gwadar from Oman for 5.5bn Pakistan rupees.
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
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UK’s AI plan
- AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
- £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
- £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
- £250m to train new AI models
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Managing the separation process
- Choose your nursery carefully in the first place
- Relax – and hopefully your child will follow suit
- Inform the staff in advance of your child’s likes and dislikes.
- If you need some extra time to talk to the teachers, make an appointment a few days in advance, rather than attempting to chat on your child’s first day
- The longer you stay, the more upset your child will become. As difficult as it is, walk away. Say a proper goodbye and reassure your child that you will be back
- Be patient. Your child might love it one day and hate it the next
- Stick at it. Don’t give up after the first day or week. It takes time for children to settle into a new routine.And, finally, don’t feel guilty.
'Munich: The Edge of War'
Director: Christian Schwochow
Starring: George MacKay, Jannis Niewohner, Jeremy Irons
Rating: 3/5
