Startup funding across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region plummeted in June 2025, with only $52 million raised across 37 deals—an 82% decline month-on-month and a 55% drop compared to June 2024. The slowdown was further underscored by the fact that 40% of this capital came through debt instruments, pointing to increasingly cautious investor sentiment amid global macroeconomic uncertainty.

UAE regains the lead, Tunisia breaks new ground

The UAE reclaimed its position as the region’s top-funded market, with 13 startups raising $37 million, accounting for over 70% of all capital deployed last month. This marks a shift from May, when Egypt led the charts; however, in June it slipped to second place with a modest $6.2 million raised across six deals.

In an unexpected turn, Tunisia entered the top three, driven entirely by a single standout deal: Kumulus, a water generation startup, secured a $3.5 million seed round. This placed the North African country ahead of Saudi Arabia, which saw just $3 million raised by six startups — a notable dip for one of the region’s most active ecosystems.

Fintech stays dominant, but cleantech and Web3 make a showing

Fintech remained the leading sector, attracting 74% of total capital across ten deals. Cleantech followed — again, thanks solely to Kumulus — while the Web3 sector secured $2 million across two rounds.

Early-stage deals continue to attract capital

When excluding debt-based financing, the bulk of funding went to early-stage companies. Seed-stage startups attracted $10.6 million across 11 rounds, followed by $5 million in pre-seed capital distributed among eight transactions. Only one Series A deal was recorded—valued at just $100,000, signalling a continued gap in growth-stage funding.

B2B rules

Startups operating under business-to-business (B2B) models received 78% of total funding across 21 deals. Hybrid B2B2C startups followed, securing $9.7 million across five deals, while pure B2C startups captured under $1.5 million across eight rounds — indicating continued investor confidence in enterprise-focused models.

Gender lens: progress, but limited reach

In June, mixed-gender founding teams made a significant impact, garnering 45% of the total capital, albeit concentrated in just four deals. Meanwhile, 27 all-male teams raised $28 million, and six women-led startups secured only $223,200.

While the numbers may seem encouraging at first glance, they actually highlight the scarcity of mixed-gender or female-led teams that are reaching the fundraising table — a long-standing gap in MENA’s startup ecosystem.

June’s numbers mark one of the sharpest funding drops in the first half of 2025. The drop may also indicate a broader recalibration in MENA’s startup landscape, likely influenced by the summer slowdown, valuation resets, and tightening global liquidity.

Stay tuned for Wamda's H1 investment breakdown.

These monthly reports are a collaboration between Wamda and Digital Digest.