DUBAI: Venture capital in the UAE amounted to $100 million (Dh367 million) in 2014 — but if the investment rate were as high as the US, there would have been $1.2 billion available, according to a report presented at the Arabtec Digital Forum on Monday.
The UAE and Lebanon received a growing share of investments in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena), with 40 per cent of investments going to UAE firms and 25 per cent to Lebanese companies in 2015 according to the report, The State of Digital Investments in Mena 2013-2015.
By investment value, with picture was even starker. with the UAE capturing 65 per cent of value and Lebanon 15 per cent. Jordan received 11 per cent of investments by value, Saudi Arabia 6 per cent and Egypt just 3 per cent.
Businesses with transactional models captured the lion’s share of funding, with 166 Mena companies gaining $546 million, while 68 technology firms shared just $84 million.
Only 19 per cent of Mena start-ups that received funding between 2013 and 2015 have failed. of 86 companies that raised first-round funding in 2013, 18 (21 per cent) raised a second round and of these 2 (11 per cent) raised a third round. The majority of failures received only first-round funding; only one firm gaining second-round funding closed.
