More than 45 start-ups worth at least $1 billion are predicted to emerge from the Middle East and North Africa by 2030, headed by Saudi Arabia. The Saudi technology venture capital fund said in a study released on Tuesday that the acceleration of the start-up ecosystem is being driven by a growing talent pool, technology infrastructure, and consumer adoption, as well as broad macroeconomic and regulatory reforms, all catering to Mena’s growing technology-driven population.
Startups have risen tremendously in recent years as they employ innovation to meet consumer requirements, and they are increasingly seeking capital from worldwide investors to drive their growth. According to private equity firm CB Insights, there are more than 1,100 unicorns — start-ups valued at atleast $1 billion — around the globe, with a total worth of more than $3.83 trillion.
The kingdom, the Arab world’s largest economy, is “unquestionably the gravitational centre” of the broader Mena catchment area, with its appeal driven primarily by two factors: the size of its GDP and the depth of its stock market, which increases opportunities for initial public offerings (IPOs), according to the report.
The venture capital deployment in Mena more than doubled last year to $2.58 billion, up from $1.09 billion in 2020. It nearly doubled to $548 million last year from $148 million in 2021 in Saudi Arabia alone, according to the report.
Mena’s youthful and rapidly rising population has a lot of money and wants to use technology for everything, including buying, commerce, studying, and socialising. According to the report, more than 55% of the region’s population is under the age of 30, and they are ardent digital media users, spending an average of 3.5 hours each day on social media. “These data put Mena apart from any other area in the globe,” STV remarked.
