MENA Startups Attract Over $1.12 Billion in H1 2026 Funding, FinTech Takes the Lead

A recent report from "Digital Digest" revealed that startups in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region successfully attracted over $1.12 billion in funding during the first half of 2026. This impressive funding benefited 207 startups, showing that investment levels have stayed consistent with the same period over the past two years, even though activity slowed down a bit in the second quarter compared to the first. The report also showed that June alone saw investments worth $37.5 million distributed among 26 startups. Total funding for the second quarter reached about $261 million, benefiting 70 companies, while the first quarter captured the largest share of total investments recorded since the beginning of the year. **UAE Leads in Funding Value, Saudi Arabia Leads in Number of Companies** The UAE continued to lead the region's markets in terms of investment value, securing a whopping 62.6% of total funding, which is about $701.1 million. Saudi Arabia followed with a 20.3% share, approximately $227.4 million, and then Egypt with 9.9%, totaling around $110.9 million. Morocco ranked fourth with a 2.7% share of funding, equivalent to about $30.2 million. The remaining countries in the region collectively accounted for 4.5% of total investments, valued at approximately $50.4 million. When it comes to the number of startups that received funding, Saudi Arabia topped the list, funding 75 startups, representing 36.2% of all funded companies. The UAE followed, funding 67 companies (32.4%), then Egypt with 22 companies (10.6%). Oman came in fourth, funding 10 companies (4.8%), while 33 companies from other countries made up 15.9% of the total beneficiaries. **FinTech Continues to Dominate Investments** The report highlighted that the FinTech sector continues to be the leading magnet for capital, capturing 46.3% of total funding, which is about $518.6 million. The Real Estate Technology (PropTech) sector came in second with a 21.6% share and investments totaling around $241.9 million. E-commerce followed with 7% and approximately $78.4 million. Deep Tech secured 4.7% of total funding, equivalent to $52.6 million, while the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) sector's share was about 3.8%, valued at $42.6 million. Health Tech received 3% of investments, totaling $33.6 million, and all other sectors combined accounted for 13.6% of total funding, amounting to approximately $152.3 million.