Wamda launches “State of Pre-Seed Startups in MENA” Report at STEP Conference 2020

10X Industry

Mita Srinivasan
10X Industry
Published:

Wamda launches “State of Pre-Seed Startups in MENA” Report at STEP Conference 2020

UAE remains the regional hub for entrepreneurship with 35.5% of the startups surveyed based in the country, followed by Egypt with 26.5%

Wamda, the Middle East's startup ecosystem enabler, launched its 'The state of the pre-seed startups in MENA' report in collaboration with STEP Conference at the event on 11 February 2020.

The report features findings based on data from 627 startup founders who applied to the Wamda X fellowship programme and includes research supplemented by STEP. The UAE remains the regional hub for entrepreneurship with 35.5% of the startups surveyed based in the country, followed by Egypt with 26.5%; in sectors ranging from e-commerce, fintech, healthcare and marketplaces among others. Only 32% of the startups surveyed are currently registered of which 60% are registered in either Egypt or the UAE.

Other key findings include:

  • The entrepreneur of the Middle East is university-educated, aged 25-35 with substantial experience in the corporate world.

  • Majority of the investment is from founders, who are bootstrapping their startups with help from friends and family. There is great room for growth for angel investors who make up just over 5% of investment.

  • The region still lacks a gender balance, with women accounting for just a quarter of founders.

According to the team at Wamda, “while compiling the research, it became apparent that there is a lack of insight and data into the reality of the state of pre-seed startups in MENA. These findings will help the ecosystem better understand the wants and needs of startups in their earliest stages and can also be used to support entrepreneurship in the region.”

You can download a free copy of the report here.