January 29, 2025

44 startups raised Series B in the last 5 years

Does 44 sound like a little? I wanna argue No.  

Today I will explore all the Series B rounds of the region that were raised between 2020 and 2024 (inclusive).

5 of them belong to Arzan VC Family 😎

44 startups raised Series B in the last 5 years

Only 1 out of the 44 MENA-based startups was launched in 2020 (Tamara), the rest is older. (The oldest was born in 2006 🐢)

The variations described below are pretty profound. Well, blame it on 2021 and 2022. 28 Series B rounds happened during those 2 years. (As well as 6 Series Cs and 1 Series D.)

From launch to Series B

  • Average time: The average time it took these 44 startups to raise Series B after their launch is 5.5 years. (If we consider only startups founded in 2018 or later, the average is less than 4 years.)
  • 2 to 15 years until B: Startups took anywhere from 2 years (e.g., Tamara, Tabby & Kitopi) to 14-15 years after launching (e.g., Altibbi & Unifonic).

Persistence & strategic scaling:

  • Startups with longer paths to B: 4 startups took 10 or more years to reach Series B: Unifonic, Altibbi, HyperPay and Noon (the edtech), indicating persistence and strategic scaling over time.
  • Tamatem, Salla, Foodics, Eat App and Paymob reached Series B in 7-8 yearssince launching.

From Series A to Series B:

  • Most startups took around 2 years to reach Series B after raising Series A.
  • 13 startups raised Series A in 2021 and 77% of them raised Series B over the next 2 years.
  • 4 startups raised Series A in 2022 and all of them raised a B round over the next 2 years.
  • Quick jumps: 14 companies bagged Series B in the year following their As (or earlier). That’s approximately one third of all. Pyypl bagged Series A and Series B in the same year (2022!).
  • Sloooowww jumps: Altibbi took 5 years to hit B (note: they launched in 2008, raised A in 2017 and then B in 2022).

12x Series C & 2x Series D:

  • 12 out of the 45 startups that raised Series B in 2020-2024 have already moved on to Series C. Among them: TruKKer, Foodics, Tamara, Tabby... And 2 Cs happened last year: Syarah & Eyewa.
  • 2 startups made it all the way to D: Pure Harvest & Tabby.

Sectors:

  • Fintech is the leading sector, with a large number of startups focused on areas like payments, lending and financial services (e.g., Hala, Lendo, Tamara, Rain, Money Fellows). Many of these companies raised Series B relatively quickly, often in just 1-2 years after Series A.
  • E-commerce
  • Foodtech/Cloud Kitchens
  • Logistics and SaaS


Tamara and Tabby are the only two startups out of the 44 that stuck to a 1-year timeframe. Both managed to raise Series A in the year following their launch and secured Series B in the year after their A. Both of them raised Series C in 2023 and Tabby is already at D stage.

Calo’s B round made it to our list; it was announced on December 30, 2024.

Conversely, MaxAB didn’t make it to the list – they raised Pre-Series B in 2022 but never got to B. Instead, they merged with Wasoko in 2024. (Eon Dental also didn’t make it – we couldn’t find solid data on their Series A.)

2024 witnessed an uptick in B rounds and I believe this trend will continue in 2025. Some Bs are already being cooked. Plus a few of those 18 startups that could go public in the next few years are in the Pre-B stage.

Your bets?

Data sources: Digital Digest weekly reports, Crunchbase, Pitchbook

I’ll be at Taqadam Investor Showcase (Jeddah) next week. Really looking forward to it!

Hasan

TL;DR

44 MENA-based startups raised their Series B round between 2020 and 2024. On average it took them 5.5 years since launching. In reality it took them anywhere from 2 years (e.g., Tamara, Tabby & Kitopi) to 14-15 years (e.g., Altibbi & Unifonic) to reach Series B. 2021 and 2022 amassed 28 Bs. And guess which startup raised its Series A and B rounds in the same year!

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