MENA's year of money: 10 notable rounds of 2015

A big year for MENA startups. (Image via Wamda)
2015 was a rich one in terms of startup investment rounds.
We’ve witnessed two $100 million fundraising rounds (not takeovers) and several tracking closely behind that were in the eight - yes eight - digits.
Wamda covered them all, so take a look at the list below for the most notable investment rounds of 2015.
-
Goldman Sachs leads new $100M round
for Hellofood. In May the investment bank led the
global online food delivery platform’s second round this year. Back
in March, Hellofood (also known as Foodpanda) raised $110 million
from a group of investors, led by Berlin-based ecommerce group
Rocket Internet, taking the total investments just this year to
$210 million. Hellofood was also an active acquirer in the region,
buying food delivery platforms
talabat.com and 24h.ae in
February. -
UK’s Deliveroo makes its UAE
debut. In November Deliveroo announced that it was
launching in Dubai, and also that it had raised $100 million in
Series D funding, led by the Russian investment firm DST Global and
US-based Greenoaks Capital with participation from existing
investors Accel, Hummingbird Ventures and Index
Ventures. -
Careem raises $60M Series
C. In November Careem made its biggest statement
yet with a round led by the Abraaj Group, alongside Arzan Venture
Capital, Al Tayyar, STC Ventures, BECO Capital, Impulse (a
subsidiary of Kuwait Investment Authority), Lumia Capital and Wamda
Capital. Al Tayyar remains the largest institutional
investor. -
littleBits makes big in $44.2M
funding round. In June, the Lebanses founder of
the US based startup said they had secured fuding from
a consortium led by DFJ Growth (investors in Tesla, SpaceX and
Box). The round included Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment
Partners, Wamda Capital and Grishin Robotics. -
$11M Series A round from the US for
Dubai-based delivery service Fetchr. Also in June,
this not-insignificant sum was part of a funding round led by
US-based VC New Enterprise Associates. -
Pakistani job marketplace Naseeb
Networks raises $6.5M in Series C. It was in May
that Naseeb, the parent company of employment marketplaces
Rozee.pk in
Pakistan and Mihnati.com in
KSA, announced a round led by Vostok Nafta
and Piton
Capital. It increases to $8.5 million the total
amount of cash the company has raised since 2005.
-
Turkey's Modanisa Islamic fashion
ecommerce announces $5.5M investment. In March
2015, the Islamic clothing ecommerce website announced the
conclusion of a $5.5 million investment led by STC Ventures (the
Saudi telecom’s VC fund) and including Aslanoba Capital
(the firm in charge of Turkish angel investor Hasan
Aslanoba’s early stage investments). -
ArabiaWeather closes a round of
$5M. In chilly November the latest investment
round in the weather forecasting site was led by Badia Impact Fund
and Wamda Capital, and includes DASH Ventures and Dubai-based
Jabbar Internet Group. It follows the
$2.1 million raised towards the end of
2014.
-
UAE's JadoPado raises $4M Series
A. In November the investment brought the UAE
startup’s valuation to just under $28 million. It is JadoPado’s
first external round and follows prior cash injections from Al
Bogari Holdings. -
Jamalon raised a $3.65M round,
with Wamda Capital, Arzan VC and Al Qudrah (a Saudi
Entity).
