Lucidity & Dubai Chamber - Dubai Venture Capital Ecosystem, 2023

The Special Report 2023 on Dubai's Venture Capital Ecosystem highlights the impressive growth of scale-ups in the MENA region, with over 40% of them calling Dubai home. Dubai-based start-ups lead the charge in terms of total capital fundraising within an ecosystem, total lifetime capital raised by individual scale-ups, most successful exits, largest fundraising rounds, as well as being home to the most number of unicorns in the region. The venture funding landscape in Dubai has evolved significantly over time, with a shift towards seed stage to early Series A investments, especially in businesses that have strong unit economics and a clear path to profitability. Investors expect to see a more robust and stronger market at the end of this downturn cycle, with a focus on profitability and robust unit economics. Dubai's venture capital ecosystem has continued to attract interest from international investors, with 3 out of the top 5 investors in the MENA ecosystem, from a capital deployed perspective, being from outside the region. The report also notes that there were multiple cases where best estimates were used in the 2022 Report, and these estimates were replaced by actual figures. As such, previous years’ data have been corrected in some instances. Overall, the report highlights Dubai's regional prominence in attracting investment and building a thriving startup ecosystem.