In the Second Week of August 2026, MENA Startup Investments Rise to $49.5 Million as Qatar Leads Fintech Deals

Investment inflow in MENA startups rises to $49.5 million in second week of August as Qatar dominates fintech deals

Startup investment activity across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region climbed to $49.5 million in the week covering August 8–15, driven primarily by a single large fintech round in Qatar and a handful of deals across AI, healthtech and gaming. The four announced transactions in that period represented a $40.5 million week‑on‑week increase in capital deployed to regional startups.

"Startup investments across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region rose by $40.5 million week-on-week during the second week of August."

Qatar accounted for the largest share of capital, representing 90.91% of total deal value for the week. The country’s contribution was anchored by Yuno, a fintech firm that closed a $45 million Series B round to develop AI‑powered financial payments solutions. The round was led by GlobalPayTechVentures and included participation from Andreessen Horowitz, Tiger Global, QuantumLight Capital, Monashees, Kaszek, and Endeavor Catalyst.

Beyond the headline Qatar fintech deal, the remaining $4.5 million was split between healthtech, gaming and artificial intelligence plays across Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

• Jordan’s Arab Therapy raised $2 million in a Pre‑Series A round to expand operations into Saudi Arabia and other regional markets. The round was led by Jordan‑based Manara Ventures, with participation from Anara Impact Fund and Saudi Arabia’s Value Makers Studio (VMS). The deal accounted for 4.04% of the week’s total investments and highlighted investor interest in mental health tech in the region.
• Saudi gaming studio Majestic Mind Games closed a $1.45 million round led by Merak Capital and Impact46, funds earmarked to support the Kingdom’s gaming and digital content sector.
• UAE‑based artificial intelligence startup Cobi raised a $1 million pre‑seed round led by Lunara Partners, with participation from Plug and Play, Annex Investments, and Spring, aimed at accelerating its early product development and go‑to‑market efforts.

Collectively, the week’s activity illustrates how a single large financing can materially shift regional weekly totals: Yuno’s $45 million Series B drove Qatar’s outsized share and was responsible for most of the $40.5 million week‑on‑week uptick. At the same time, smaller rounds in healthtech, gaming and AI signal continued investor appetite for sector diversification across the MENA startup ecosystem.

Outlook: With venture interest concentrated in a few high‑value fintech rounds, subsequent weekly totals will likely swing with the timing of larger Series B and later‑stage deals. Investors and founders will be monitoring whether the momentum in fintech—especially AI‑enabled payments solutions such as those Yuno is developing—spurs additional cross‑border rounds, and whether follow‑on funding in healthtech and gaming accelerates expansion across Saudi Arabia and the UAE in the coming months.