MENA Funding Update: Fewer Deals, Bigger Cheques

January saw the MENA region’s largest funding round: Abu Dhabi-based Mal, an Islamic digital bank, raised $230M (USD) from BlueFive Capital and several institutional investors and family offices.

Dubai’s Property Finder, a real estate listing platform, raised a $170M (USD) Series B round, led by Mubadala Investment Company and BECO Capital.
Lucidity Insights reported a 5.7% decline in funding value over the period reviewed, alongside a marked drop in deal count. Fewer deals, larger check sizes, and later rounds is the prevailing trend across the GCC. Sovereign wealth is not just participating in these rounds — in the case of Property Finder, it is leading them.

GGH Perspective
This is particularly meaningful to founders in the UK and Europe, where the ‘scale-up gap’ in funding continues to be a challenge. The UAE continues to push capital into scale-stage activities, providing powerful funding and growth options for founders willing to move significant operational activities into the GCC.