Riyadh – Sharikat Mubasher: The venture capital (VC) market in Saudi Arabia witnessed a mixed performance in the first half (H1) of 2024.

Flat6Labs, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region’s leading seed and early-stage venture capital firm currently running the most renowned startup programs in the region, published a report namely “Early Stage VC in KSA Historical Trends and H1 2024 Update” following the movements of funding rounds in the Saudi Market.

The report stated that early-stage funding posted a notable increase during H1 compared to the same 2023 period with Series A funding notably up by 141%.

Pre-seed and Seed funding also rose by 37% and 29%, respectively during H1 compared to the same period in 2023.

The report added that Post-Series A funding so far lags behind the 3-year average, while 2023 posted peak VC funding driven by notable later-stage rounds.

The report further mentioned that investor activity rebounded in H1 2024, driven by higher Series A and pre-seed participation, though it still lags behind the 3-year average.

Worth mentioning that the VC market in the Kingdom is diversifying, with fintech and e-commerce historically dominating but now seeing significant growth in sectors like Software as a Service, EdTech, Transportation and Logistics, and others.