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29 March 2022

Egyptian Startups Bag Most VC Deals in Africa

Egypt has ranked first in terms of the number of venture capital (VC) deals in Africa during 2021, according to 2021 Egypt Venture Investment Report, recently issued by MAGNiTT, in cooperation with the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA).

Following a four-year consecutive growth in VC funding, the Egyptian startup ecosystem saw a 168% year-over-year (YoY) increase in capital investment, reaching a new all-time high record of $491 million. The report indicated that Egypt’s share in both the total capital raised and deals closed across MENA increased by two percentage points between 2020 and 2021. VC directed toward Egyptian startups grew by 168% between 2020 and 2021, as funding activity inclined toward late-stage deals.

On its position and ranking in the MENA region, Egypt came in second place by the number of VC deals, with a record-high of 147 deals, representing 24% of all deals closed across the MENA region in 2021. The country also came in third place in terms of total funding, where the local startups gripped 18% of total capital deployed across the whole continent.

The report highlighted how the startup ecosystem in Egypt managed to recover from the repercussions of the pandemic, which caused the number of deals to drop in 2020. Egypt proved to be an attractive investment destination, as an all-time-high volume of investors backed its local startups. The number of investors increased by 68% to a record-high of 124 different funding institutions in 2021, compared with 74 investors in 2020.

In Egypt, entrepreneurship is burgeoning and the startup ecosystem is booming, as the entrepreneurial mindset spreads amongst young people. The community is getting more vibrant and sustainable, driven by the increased number of quality investors, the vast network of well-designed co-working spaces, innovation clusters, business incubators, and the nationwide CREATIVA Innovation Hubs.

Moreover, the government supports the growth of startups with unprecedented efforts. For its part, ITIDA has developed a five-year strategy in collaboration with Deloitte and USAID to further support the ecosystem's capabilities and ensure greater access to finance, talent and markets.

The report refers to Egypt as a leading venture ecosystem across both the MENA and Africa landscapes. The record investments into the Egyptian space reflect the market maturity. Most importantly, a record number of different investors, up 68% YoY, shows the increased interest from investors from across the region and international market.

Additionally, the startup ecosystem in Egypt witnessed a surge in investors from outside the MENA region, accounting for 51%, with 63 investors. The report added that Egypt attracted the highest number of non-Egyptian investors, with 77%.

MAGNiTT highlighted that “fintech” led the transactions activity in Egypt, representing 17% of the total deals closed in the country in 2021, which comes in line with the regional trend across the MENA region where “fintech” accounted for the highest share (18%) of all VC transactions in the year.

The “transport and logistics” industry, however, claimed over a third (36%) of all capital deployed in Egypt in 2021. As for the top five industries in terms of the number of deals in Egypt in 2021, the rankings came as follows: fintech 25 deals; e-commerce 23 deals; transport and logistics 15 deals; healthcare 12 deals; and food and beverage 11 deals.

On the other hand, the top five industries by funding in 2021 ranked as follows: transport and logistics $177 million; e-commerce $96 million; fintech $60 million; retail $42 million; food and beverage $38 million.

Related Websites

Information Technology Industry Development Agency | ITIDA