Saudi Arabia's Most-Funded Startups
Is $6 million enough or…?
12/21/2020 11:16 am
With the startup “business” booming across the globe, the Middle East, and Saudi Arabia in particular, government funds, ventures, and large companies have been investing left, right, and center. However, not all these startups are getting the attention and funding they need. In fact, only seven startups in Saudi Arabia were able to make it onto Forbes Middle East’s “The Middle East’s 50 Most-Funded Startups.”
The Seven Most Funded Startups in Saudi Arabia:
Nana Direct is a Saudi-based online grocery shopping and delivery platform. Ever since its establishment in 2016, it has been working on expanding its services throughout the kingdom. To obtain the cost of expansion, Nana Direct looks towards funding and investment opportunities.
In 2020, the app was able to obtain a total of $18 million in financial backing from venture capitalists, such as Saudi Technology Ventures (also known as STV) and Middle East Venture Partners. This additional investment brings Nana Direct’s total funding to $28.9 million, making it the most financially funded startup in the kingdom.
PayTabs, a Business-to-Business e-commerce solutions platform and provider, was founded in 2014 with just six members. Within the last six year, PayTabs has been mentioned a total of five times by Forbes Middle East; almost once a year since their launch. PayTabs has so far procured a total of $26 million in funding. They also introduced PayTabs Switch, a “real time, integrated, turnkey platform.”
Although the platform has not yet been fully inaugurated, it has provided PayTabs with the title of “global end-to-end payment solutions powerhouse.”
Noon Academy, founded in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, is an online learning platform (EdTech Startup) with over eight million students. The platform aims to become “the largest social learning platform” in the world by the year 2023.
With such a huge aspiration in mind, it is only natural for investment to be needed (and they got it!). They were able to secure a total of $21.6 million, ranking Noon Academy the third highest invested in startups in Saudi Arabia. Their most recent investors are Alturki Holding and NFX Ventures.
Also launched in 2014 is Foodics, a cloud-based all-in-one restaurant management system. It was designed to make life easy on anyone working in the Food and Beverage Industry; namely restaurants, cafes, and food trucks. The system combines the cashier’s Point-of-Sale, inventory, a digital menu, employee timesheet, kitchen display, table management, call center, customer notifier, and real-time analytics all on one iOS tablet.
They currently have over 10,000 customers and five different offices across Saudi Arabia, U.A.E, and Egypt. In 2018, they began their plan to expand internationally. By 2020, they raised a total of $7.7 million in investment, with their two major investors being Derayah and Elm.
Dokkan Afkar, a Jeddah-based e-commerce platform, was established in 2013 with the aim of “satisfying the geek inside you.” The platform sells all kinds of small gadgets, gizmos, and gifts; including electronics, home appliances and decors, clothes, and more. Last year (2019), they raised around $5.6 million. However, this year (2020), they managed to top that up with another $2 million, raising their funds to $7.6 million.
6. Sary
In a bid to help connect small businesses with wholesale markets and suppliers, Sary, a digital Business-to-Business (B2B) platform, was created. Their shopping cart allows you to choose the products you like and compare them across different suppliers and prices. Additionally, it gives you the predicted profits you will make off the products you chose. In 2020, Sary raised $6.6 million in funds, bringing the total up to $7 million.
Cura, an online health platform connecting doctors and patients through video calls and messaging, was founded in 2016. So far, this app is the least funded startup among those available in this list. Over the last four years, Cura has only been able to collect a total of $6 million in funding. However, that still places it in the top 10 most funded Saudi startups.
The main aim of this app is to allow users to contact doctors from anywhere at any time. Cura currently has over 2,400 registered doctors and over 500,000 patients across Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Egypt.
(Nodrh Co. offers consulting services to Startups that include aiding with the launch, management, and business coaching. To build a stronger, more durable foundation for your business and its future, we help you solve your problems rather than simply just solving them for you.)
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