Investment into Saudi Arabia-based start-ups rose 35 percent in2019 to $67 million, according to new data from start-up data platform Magnitt.
Accordingto Magnitt's 2019 Saudi Arabia Venture Capital Snapshot Report,the number of investments in Saudi start-ups went up 92 percent from 2018, with71 investments in local firms.
Additionally,the report found that Saudi Arabia ranked third in terms of funding among itsMENA peers.
"Saudi Arabia is one of the fastest growing ecosystems in theregion," said Philip Bahoshy, Magnitt's co-founder and CEO. "With thegovernment clearly identifying innovation and entrepreneurship a one of theirkey focuses in line with Vision 2030, many new initiatives have been launchedin 2018 and 2019."
"Usually,these initiatives take time to come to fruition, but we have already seen theirimpact on the ecosystem in the country and MENA region," he added.
SaudiArabian investors were the most active in the entire region, with 48 investorsfrom the kingdom making investments in MENA-based start-ups in 2019.
The report also found that e-commerce remains the most activesector in terms of number of deals, accounting for 27 percent of the total.E-commerce was followed by delivery and transport, with 26 percent.
