2022 started off with a significant number of entrepreneurs succeeding to grasp the attention and confidence of many investors, and reaping millions of dollars last January, as the total funding acquired amounted to more than 257 million US dollars, in more than 20 rounds. In this report, we will showcase the most important and prominent of these funding rounds:

Bahrain’s Rain, a cryptocurrency exchange platform, has raised $110 million in its second funding round,  and therefore had the largest share of funds in the Arab region for January. The round was led by Paradigm and Kleiner Perkins, co-incorporated by Coinbase Ventures, Global Founders Capital, MEVP, Cadenza Ventures, as well as JIMCO and CMT Digital. 

Tunisia’s InstaDeep, a startup specialized in advanced AI decision-making systems for solving real-world problems, announced that it has raised $100M and closed a Series B round led by Alpha Intelligence Capital together with CDIB.

Cairo-based Brimore, a social commerce platform, has closed its Series A round of $25M. The round was led by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Endure Capital. ExpandCart secured $2.7 million in a Pre-Series B bridge round of financing, led by Hong-Kong-based Betatron Venture Group. Orcas Egypt also raised 2.1 million dollars in a round led by CIRA’s NFX Ventures, and Access Bridge Ventures.

Investments in Iraqi startups were very prominent this month, Baly raised $10.5m in its latest funding round which is considered to be the largest seed round in Iraq’s tech history. Baly is backed by Rocket Internet, a German internet company that incubates and invests in internet and technology companies globally. This investment round was led by Kingsway Capital, MSA Capital, Global Founders Capital, Vostok Ventures, Majid Al Futtaim and March Holding. Iraq’s TipTop also raised 5 million dollars and Al saree3, Iraqi delivery platform, raised 3.5 million dollars. 

Lean Technologies, Saudi-based FinTech startup, has raised $33M in its latest funding round. The Series A round was led by renowned venture capital firm Sequoia Capital India, with participation from existing investors RAED Ventures, Outliers, Shorooq, and JIMCO. Saudi Arabia’s Lucidya, a customer experience platform, raised 6 million dollars. Dawul and Penny Software both raised 5m USD.