The startup scene in the Arab world continues to boom, culminating this year in several high value deals. These include the acquisition of Souq. com by Amazon, construction major Emaar Malls buying a majority stake in Namshi.com, and Careem raising half a billion dollars from the likes of Rakuten Inc., STC Ventures, Kingdom Holding Company and Daimler. Investors in the region are also maturing, with corporates and large private companies taking risks and investing in startups. Al Tayyar Travel Group, the largest travel company in the region and Majid Al Futtaim Group, a diversified private company, have both invested in startups recently. Venture capitalists are also growing in numbers and in size, and although the U.A.E. is still the hub, Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan are also very active. This year we have compiled three lists to rank the brightest startups and investors across the Arab World. 100 Startups in the Arab World comprises those startups that have championed the most innovative ideas and received the most external funding in the last year. 50 Start-ups to Watch are those who have not yet received big-ticket funding but are looking promising for the future. And the 50 Most Active Investors ranking recognizes the backers spotting the entrepreneurial talent and helping these businesses thrive through funding.
Customer loyalty and engagement platform
Founders : Mustafa Sadek, Salam Saadeh
Funding : $735K
Country : U.A.E.
Founded : 2013
Connects consumers with storage facilities
Founders : Premlal Pullisserry, Abraham Thomas
Funding : $700K
Country : U.A.E.
Founded : 2016
Recruitment site
Founders : Saed Shela, Nael Ramadan
Country : U.A.E.
Founded : 2014
Platform to learn programming at schools
Founders : Hanan Khader
Funding : $700K
Country : Jordan
Founded : 2015
Online platform for on-demand home services
Founders : Manar Alkassar
Country : U.A.E.
Founded : 2015
Booking platform for sports and entertainment
Founders : Nadeem and Faheem Bakhsh, Farrukh Bandey, Yousef Shanti
Country : Saudi Arabia
Founded : 2016
Honey production
Founders : Marc-Antoine and Ralph Bou Nassif, Rabih Trabolsi
Funding : $600K
Country : Lebanon
Founded : 2011
Crowdfunding platform
Founders : Abdallah Absi
Funding : $580K
Country : Lebanon
Founded : 2012
Streams Arabic indie films
Founders : Perihan Abouzeid
Funding : $575K
Country : Egypt
Founded : 2016
Online doctor appointments
Founders : Haris Aghadi, Abdulla Alkhenji
Funding : $550K
Country : Qatar
Founded : 2015