Startups across the Mena region saw a 474% year-on-year increase in venture capital (VC) funding in January.
A total of $247 million was raised through 46 deals, according to a report issued by Wamda and Digital Digest.
Almost half of that total came from a series B funding round by Bahrain-based cryptocurrency exchange Rain which pushed the country to the top of the rankings.
It was followed by Saudi Arabia with $55.6 million with Egypt ($33 million), UAE ($24.4 million) and Iraq ($15 million) making up the top five.
Saudi Arabia ranked highest in terms of deal count with 15 transactions in January.
The majority of the deals were in the fintech sector, which accounted for more than half of the deal value.
However, the figures show that less than 1% of the venture capital funding went to female founders, down from 1.6% the previous month.
©2022 funds global mena