Start-ups in the Middle East and North Africa raised $1.1 billion across 73 deals in September, up 193 per cent from August, according to the monthly report from Wamda and Digital Digest. The total was still 68 per cent below September 2025, and most of the rebound came from a small number of very large rounds.
Three Saudi fintech transactions did most of the work: Barq’s $329.5 million Series A, Tabby’s $233 million Series F and Lendo’s $200 million debt facility. Together they came to $762.5 million, close to 70 per cent of all capital raised in the region that month. Debt made up 31.7 per cent of September’s funding, down from 76 per cent a year earlier, so equity carried more of the total. The concentration means the headline growth figure says more about three companies than about the market as a whole.
Saudi Arabia returned to first place, with 40 start-ups raising $947.2 million, about 86 per cent of the regional figure, and fintech taking 86 per cent of Saudi capital. The UAE came second with $98.4 million across 12 deals, five of them fintechs that took 71 per cent of the money. Egypt returned to the top three after recording no funding in August: seven start-ups raised $49.2 million, of which Paymob’s $35 million pre-Series C accounted for about 71 per cent.
By sector, 20 fintechs raised $930.6 million, about 85 per cent of the total, while proptech drew $50.2 million from three deals and travel tech $25.2 million from two. Early-stage companies led with $418.2 million across 39 deals, and five later-stage firms raised $288 million. B2B companies took $457.7 million across 47 deals against $406.4 million for consumer start-ups. The gender gap remained wide: male-led companies received about $1 billion, female-founded start-ups $2.4 million and mixed teams $7.3 million.
Smaller rounds also closed.
Riyadh-based Echelon, an AI company founded in 2025 by Khalid Al-Saud, raised an undisclosed sum from East40, RAED Ventures and Avra, with Ben Horowitz taking part, to support AI deployments for Saudi companies and government bodies. Saudi construction marketplace Project Suppliers raised $1 million in pre-seed funding to build AI-based cash-flow and financing tools. More than 250 women-founded businesses applied to the TiE Women MENA programme this year, up from almost 200 in 2025. Including September, third-quarter funding passed $1.7 billion, and fourth-quarter figures will show whether money starts to spread beyond a few large fintech deals.
