MENA startups raised just $40M in October, down 96% from September

RIYADH — MENA startups raised $40M in October across 32 deals, a 96% collapse from September's $1.1B and a 95% drop from October last year, according to Wamda's monthly funding tally.

The month had no megadeals, and the concentration was stark. Saudi Arabia led with $18.8M across nine startups, 47% of all capital, and one deal did most of the work: Autobia's $12M Series A was 64% of the Saudi total and 30% of the region's. The UAE followed with $12.9M across ten deals. Qatar took third on a single $5M transaction, overtaking Egypt, which fell to $1.7M from $49.2M in September.

Strip out the debt and the picture thins further. Debt financing was $550K, 1.4% of the total. Early-stage rounds took 84% of capital. B2B companies took 86%. Female-founded startups took 0.5%.

The read is not that founders stopped raising. September was inflated by megadeals, and October shows what the region's baseline looks like without them: a thin, early-stage, Saudi-led market. Year to date, the region is still near $3.4B.

Watch November. One anchor round and the chart looks healthy again. None, and the dry spell becomes the story.