MENA startup funding plunges 96% to $40m in October as megadeals vanish

Startups in the Middle East and North Africa raised just $40 million across 32 deals in October 2026, down 96% from September, according to the monthly report compiled by Wamda and Digital Digest, as the absence of any large round showed how heavily the region’s headline figures still depend on a handful of transactions.

From $1.1bn to $40m in a single month

October’s total compares with $1.1 billion in September and $784.9 million in October 2025, a year-on-year fall of 95%. September had been lifted by three Saudi fintech deals worth a combined $762.5 million, nearly 70% of that month’s capital, while October had no megadeal and no later-stage round at all.

The drop in deal count was far smaller. The number of transactions fell 56%, from 73 to 32, a gap the report’s authors say makes the contraction look more dramatic than the change in activity alone. Arab News, which carried the figures in its weekly startup review on 14 November, noted that the monthly decline exceeded $1 billion.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE still take the bulk

Saudi Arabia remained the most-funded ecosystem, with nine startups raising $18.8 million, or 47% of the regional total. A single deal, Autobia’s $12 million Series A, accounted for almost 64% of the kingdom’s tally.

The UAE recorded more deals, ten, but less money, at $12.9 million. Together the two Gulf markets captured nearly 80% of October’s capital. Qatar ranked third thanks to one $5 million transaction, while Egypt slipped to fourth with six deals worth $1.7 million, a sharp fall from the $49.2 million raised there in September, when Paymob closed a 35millionround.Kuwait(650,000), Jordan (560,000)andSyria(365,000 across three startups) completed the list.

Small, early-stage and business-facing

Autotech topped the sector ranking on the strength of Autobia alone. Fintech came second by value but led by number of deals, with five startups raising nearly $10 million, and adtech was third through UAE-based JustAd’s $5 million round.

Early-stage companies raised $33.7 million across 24 deals, more than 84% of the total, while debt financing was limited to a single $550,000 facility. Business-to-business startups took about 86% of capital. Only two funded startups had female or mixed-gender founding teams, raising $200,000, or 0.5% of the month’s money.

Fintech activity beyond the funding table

Activity did not stop in the sector that drove September’s surge. Riyadh-based Tabby said more than one million people in the UAE had opened a Tabby Cash account two months after the product became available to all residents, Arab News reported. The same outlet said third-quarter statements of Tabby’s Saudi financing arm show the Saudi Central Bank issued a no-objection on 27 October to additional foreign financing of up to SR1.125 billion ($300 million), without naming the lender or saying whether the facility has been signed.

A volatile year with $3.4bn raised so far

Despite the slump, MENA startups have attracted about $3.4 billion in the first ten months of 2026, according to Wamda, in a year marked by regional conflict and economic uncertainty. Deals reported in early November, including UAE-based CE-Ventures’ participation in UK biotech Oyster Therapeutics’ $60 million Series A and Merak Capital’s $1.3 million investment in Saudi gaming studio Lambda Studios, suggest capital is still moving, but mostly in modest tickets.

The report’s conclusion is that the challenge is no longer simply attracting capital but building a market that can sustain investment “beyond the occasional megadeal”. November and December will show whether larger rounds return before year-end.