If you look at the domestic numbers, the Gulf’s tech ecosystem is booming. Saudi Arabia alone raised $3.2bn through 62 deals in Q3 2025. But cross the Red Sea into Africa, and the capital deployment tells a completely different story.
It is not a flood; it is a filter.
Data from 2025 analyzed by Launch Base Africa reveals that while Gulf investors are writing cheques, they are doing so with extreme selectivity. They are concentrating heavily on Egypt, ignoring vast swathes of the continent, and avoiding the consumer-facing bets that typically dominate African tech narratives.
Here is the map of where the money is actually moving.
The Active Players: A Tale of Two Strategies
The investor landscape isn’t monolithic. It splits sharply between high-volume seed investors and strategic corporate giants placing massive singular bets.
1. UAE: Volume vs. Value
Plus VC (Abu Dhabi) has emerged as the volume leader. Their thesis is strictly early-stage and heavily tilted toward Egyptian fintech. Their 2025 chequebook covered:
- PALM: Savings tech.
- Suplyd: B2B logistics.
- SehaTech: Healthtech insurance.
- Kumulus: Climate-tech (one of the rare non-Egyptian bets).
- FinCart.io: Fintech.
e& capital, the VC arm of the telecom giant (formerly Etisalat), takes the opposite approach: fewer deals, much larger cheques. They are hunting for established digital infrastructure.
- Nawy: Participated in a massive $52m equity round for the Egyptian proptech.
- Revibe: Backed a $17m Series A for refurbished electronics.
BECO Capital (Dubai) and Shorooq Partners are targeting growth-stage winners.
- BECO backed Thndr ($15.7m investment platform) and Taager ($6.75m social commerce) — both founded by Uber alumni.
- Shorooq deployed capital into Octane ($5.2m payments), Nawy, and Moroccan adtech Journify.
Other notable UAE participation included Hub71 (Wuilt), Global Ventures (Rabbit), and AHOY (Qme, $3m seed).
2. Saudi Arabia: The Strategic Alignment
Saudi capital is less about pure VC returns and more about alignment with Vision 2030 objectives — specifically energy and deep tech.
- The Arab Energy Fund: Led a $26.3m Series A for Tagaddod (renewable energy). This is an infrastructure play aligned with Saudi energy diversification.
- Sukna Ventures: Made a rare deep-tech bet with InfiniLink’s $10m seed round for semiconductor development in Egypt.
- Wa’ed Ventures and Hala Ventures: Co-invested in Intella ($12.5m Series A), an AI firm operating cross-border between Egypt and Saudi.
- RAED Ventures: Pursuing e-commerce platforms, backing Rabbit and Taager.
The Geography: The “Comfort Corridor”
There is a clear disconnect between the “Africa strategy” often touted in press releases and the reality of bank transfers.
Egypt is the center of gravity. The data shows overwhelming concentration in Cairo. In H1 2025, Egypt registered a 106% year-on-year increase in funding volume, raising $179m across 52 deals.
- The Pull: The Arabic language eliminates translation friction; legal frameworks mirror Gulf systems; time zones allow real-time collaboration.
- The Portfolio: From fintech (Octane, Thndr, Khazna) to proptech (Nawy) and semiconductors (InfiniLink).
The Secondary Hubs
- Morocco: Secured notable interest, primarily through Journify (raising $4m seed from Silicon Badia and RZM).
- Tunisia: Saw minor activity with water-tech startup Kumulus.
The Notable Absences Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya — Africa’s traditional “Big Three” — receive minimal attention. Despite a new $250m Mara Group fund launched in 2024 to target these markets, actual deployed Gulf capital remains negligible. Language barriers (in Francophone markets) and perceived instability have kept Gulf LPs in their northern comfort zone.
Sector Watch: Infrastructure Over Apps
Gulf investors are avoiding the “next billion users” consumer apps. Instead, they are funding the rails those users run on.
1. Fintech: The Plumbing
Investors are backing payment orchestration and digital banking rails rather than consumer wallets.
- MoneyHash and Octane secured backing to process digital payments.
- Khazna is building a financial super app, but notably operates across both Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
- Thndr raised $15.7m to acquire a digital banking license and expand into Saudi.
- PALM and FinCart.io rounded out the infrastructure bets.
2. Enterprise AI: The B2B Play
Investors are betting on B2B AI applications where Arabic language processing offers a defensive moat.
- Intella: Raised $12.5m for AI voice/text ops.
- Darwinz AI: Secured a $325k seed check (Flat6Labs KSA) for marketing automation.
- Thunders: Raised $9m seed (Silicon Badia) for AI software testing.
3. E-commerce & Logistics
The money is in the platform, not the inventory.
- Suplyd: Secured $2m (Pre-Series A) for B2B logistics.
- Revibe: Refurbished electronics marketplace.
- Wuilt: E-commerce enablement infrastructure.
4. The Outliers
- Renewables: Tagaddod ($26.3m) represents a strategic infrastructure investment.
- Proptech: Nawy ($52m equity) dominates the sector, combining marketplace dynamics with mortgage financing.
The Anti-Portfolio: What They Avoid
The “No-Go” list is as revealing as the portfolio. Gulf investors have effectively red-lined sectors that are otherwise popular with Western development finance institutions (DFIs).
- Agriculture: Zero identified capital. Long cycles, low margins, and rural distribution complexity are deal-breakers.
- Healthcare: Minimal activity (only two deals under $2m, largely insurtech like SehaTech).
- EdTech: No meaningful backing.
- Consumer Social: Zero investment. Moderation risks and monetization struggles are a turn-off.
- Mobility: Beyond logistics, transportation tech is ignored.
The Deal Mechanics
Ticket Sizes
- The Sweet Spot: Seed stage deals ranging from $2m to $10m (e.g., InfiniLink $10m, Thunders $9m, Octane $5.2m).
- Testing Waters: Pre-seed tickets ($325k — $1m) for strategic positioning (Darwinz AI, Stakpak).
- The Ceiling: Series A rounds are selective and syndicated. Series B and growth capital are largely absent, with exceptions like Khazna and Thndr.
Co-Investment Strategy: Followers, Not Leaders
Gulf investors rarely lead rounds. They mitigate risk by syndicating with established players.
- US VCs: They look to Y Combinator (Thndr), Digital Currency Group (Stakpak), or 4DX Ventures (Taager, Suplyd) to set the terms and lead diligence.
- European Growth Funds: Prosus (Netherlands) and Partech (France) frequently lead the larger rounds (Nawy, Revibe) with Gulf capital filling the expansion tickets.
- Local Fixers: Almost every Egypt deal involving Gulf capital includes local VCs like Algebra Ventures, A15, or Beltone to navigate on-ground regulatory nuances.
Essentially, Gulf capital acts as a force multiplier, providing the cash for regional expansion into Saudi or UAE markets.
Founder Profile
There is a distinct premium on pedigree.
- The Uber Mafia: Alumni from Uber (founders of Thndr, Rabbit) and Careem secure funding faster.
- The Team: Solo founders are rare. Investors back technical/commercial duos.
- Nationality: Egyptian founders dominate. Female founders remain severely underrepresented. In the MENA region as a whole, female founders only secured just $1.1m across four deals in September 2025 compared to the billions raised by male teams.
The Bottom Line
The data from 2025 contradicts the idea of Gulf investors as high-risk frontier market gamblers. They are, in fact, highly conservative.
They are building a bridge to Africa, but it lands firmly in Cairo. They back founders who look like them (or worked for companies they know), invest in legal systems they understand, and prefer B2B infrastructure with clear revenue lines over speculative consumer plays.
For African founders outside of North Africa, or those in sectors like AgTech, the Gulf wallet remains largely closed. For Egyptian fintech and B2B founders, however, the corridor to Riyadh and Dubai has never been more open.