Riyadh – Sharikat Mubasher: Forbes Middle East released its inaugural list of the Top Venture Capitalists in the region for 2024, spotlighting the most influential Venture Capital (VC) firms shaping the Middle East’s dynamic startup ecosystem.
The list recognizes those driving innovation, fostering growth, and actively contributing to the region’s entrepreneurial future—not just through financial backing, but by shaping the trajectory of emerging businesses.
Forbes Middle East considered several key factors creating this list, including the number and impact of successful deals, the value of funding rounds, and each firm’s top five deals. Additional criteria were assets under management, the success rate of startups within each portfolio, and the number of profitable exits.
The experience and entrepreneurial background of each firm’s leader were also taken into account to ensure a well-rounded evaluation. The firms are listed alphabetically, with cofounder-led firms counted as a single entry.
The 30 firms featured on the list are predominantly based in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which each have 11 and 10 firms, respectively. The list also includes four firms from Egypt, two from Jordan, and one from Kuwait, illustrating the expanding entrepreneurial spirit across the region.
Among the top 10 comes Impact46 from Saudi Arabia, founded by Abdulaziz Alomran in 2019 occupying the very first rank followed by Merak Capital also from the Saudi Kingdom, established in 2018 by Abdulrahman Bin Mutrib, Abdullah Altamami, and Othman Alhokail. Saudis continues hunting the 3rd with STV, founded by Abdulrahman Tarabzouni in 2018, while the 4th place goes to Sawari Ventures and its subsidiary accelerator Flat6Labs from Egypt. The list also featured the Saudi female entrepreneur, Amal Dokhan with 500 Global which was established in Saudi Arabia in 2021 and has since supported the Sanabil 500 MENA Seed Accelerator Fund. Dokhan served as general partner of the group in MENA in June 2022 and assumed her current role in May 2024. She was previously an angel investor for 14 startups in her portfolio.
Several firms on the list have been instrumental in supporting some of the region’s most disruptive startups. Sarwa, a wealth management platform, has been backed by 500 Global, MEVP, HALA Ventures, and Shorooq Partners. Both Nuwa Capital and Plus VC are key investors in the eyewear retailer, eyewa, while Foodics has received funding from STV, Vision Ventures, Plus VC, and Jabbar Internet Group.
Worth mentioning, 24 of the firms on the list are led by entrepreneurs who have transitioned from founders to investors, fueling the region’s continued growth. The remaining six firms are led by experienced non-founding executives.