MENA, Turkey & Pakistan: Top 5 funding rounds in April 2021
The latest of our monthly updates, April 2021 Venture Investment Dashboard, provides a detailed round-up of the month’s venture activities across MENA, Turkey and Pakistan. The report indicated a strong start to Q2 2021 in MENA as VC investments in April alone amounted to 37% of venture capital raised in the region in Q1 2021. Egyptian startups raised 110% more than what they did in the first quarter of the year, constituting 47% of all capital deployed in MENA in April 2021.
In Turkey, Gaming startup Uncosoft was acquired by game developer Rollic three years after its foundation. Gaming sector in the country maintained its investor interest as only two deals captured 26% of venture capital in April. The month's venture funding in Pakistan, on the other hand, totalled to 79% of total capital deployed in the country in Q1’21.
With all Emerging Venture Markets taking away positives from the month, we look into the top 5 deals that made this performance possible:
Egyptian Fintech startup Tribal Credit raised April’s largest funding round, worth $34M. Launched before the pandemic, Tribal Credit stood to benefit from the need for digital adoption in the B2B payments space. The startup uses artificial intelligence to evaluate the creditworthiness of small and medium sized enterprises and offer relevant payment products.
The Series A funding round was led by QED Investors, Global Ventures, Endure Capital, Endeavor Catalyst Fund and BECO Capital.
Pakistan’s Jabberwock Ventures was responsible for 93% of the venture capital poured into the country in April 2021. The Enterprise Software startup’s $20M Series-B round round is among the largest raised by a startup in Pakistan. Last year in September, Bykea raised $13 million in their Series-B round. Jabberwock Venture builds and backs innovative solutions and businesses, seeing them through from early stages to gradual scaling.
3. Paymob
In another indication of Egypt’s growing Fintech startup space, B2B payment solution provider Paymob, raised a Series-A funding round in April 2021. The startup is focused on empowering underserved SMEs, including online and offline merchants, with accessible digital payment solutions and accelerate the country’s progress towards digital financial inclusion. Investors of the likes of Global Ventures, A15 and FMO Ventures Program participated in the funding round to raise a total of $15M.
4. Cofe
Kuwait-based COFE, a coffee-centric marketplace mobile app, raised a $10M Series-B round in April 202, led by Al Imtiaz Investment Group. The startup, launched by coffee enthusiast Ali Al Ebrahim in 2017, offers a convenient outlet for users to customize, order and pay for their drinks from a range of local and international coffee chains. In another milestone, the company secured a spot among the top-five startups in Tech Innovation category at the London Coffee Shop Innovation Expo in 2019.
5. Ace Games
Turkey has made its mark on the world map as a hub for digital innovation within the Gaming sector. In line with this reputation, the country’s venture investment ecosystem saw another major funding round in favor of Gaming startup Ace Games. In a seed stage funding round, the startup raised $7M.
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