Stryber Corporate Venturing Report MENA: Investments are picking up speed as governments and private companies in MENA support the startup ecosystem

While deal sizes in corporate venture capital and mergers & acquisitions continue to grow, strong momentum for corporate venture building is surfacing in the MENA region.

Stryber, the leading independent corporate venture builder in Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific, published the Bi-Annual Corporate Venturing Report MENA. The report focuses on corporate venture capital (CVC), mergers & acquisitions (M&A) and corporate venture building (CVB). "Awareness is rising that relying on one source of revenue is unsafe and capital needs to be invested in diversification. Interestingly, we found that the average CVC deal size in MENA has slightly surpassed that of Europe last quarter" said Rayan Aebi, Managing Director of Stryber MENA & South Asia.

Stryber combines approaches from the venture capital and start-up world and fosters success and growth for its corporate clients by setting up and building new lines of business that deliver substantial growth. Founded in 2016 by Jan Sedlacek and Alexander Mahr, Stryber is the leading independent corporate venture builder in Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific. Its customers include sovereign wealth funds and well-known companies from a wide variety of industries, including banking, insurance, retail, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, crypto, real and estate.

Excerpt of the most important report results

Corporate Venture Capital (CVC)

• CVC deals declined in terms of number and volume in both quarters of H1 2022, while the average deal size increased to USD $35m in Q2 2022.
• Saudi and Egypt ($141m) lead for the largest CVC deal volume in MENA.
• EdVentures (Egypt) is the most active CVC in MENA with 4 deals.
• Foodics (Saudi Arabia) accounted for the largest CVC round, followed by Rain (Bahrain).
• Healthcare focused CVC's are expanding into MENA as telemedicine and remote patient monitoring gain traction in the region.

Data collection CVC: Data basis on Crunchbase database.

M&A

• Number of M&A deals and deal volume increased in H1 2022 compared to H2 2021, but a 19% QoQ decrease in deal volume in Q2 2022.
• UAE and Bahrain led the list of the largest accumulated M&A deal volume by country.

Data collection M&A: Data basis on the Pitchbook database, and secondary Magnitt database.

CVB

• Number of active CVBs in H1 2022 remains stable at 19 units - 1 additionally founded Internal VB (IVB) in Q1 2022, increasing the number of active IVBs to 7 in H1 2022.
• ADQ-backed Further Ventures emerged as the most active VB in the region, disclosing two fintech ventures while other venture units operate in stealth mode.
• As interest grows in the metaverse and new spheres of development, excitement for CVB is surfacing in the MENA region.

Data collection CVB: Data collection through manual and secondary research.

Download report: Stryber Corporate Venturing Report MENA H1