The UAE crossed the US$1 billion mark in start-up funding in 2021 and 2022, maintaining its MENA lead in VC funding. Dubai is home to numerous VC funds including the Dubai Future District Fund, Oraseya Capital, Global Ventures, Wamda Capital and more. The region also builds on healthy M&A activity, EY’s MENA H1 M&A Insights report published in August 2023, the region saw a total of 318 M&A deals amounting to US$43.8 billion, with the GCC region accounting for 254 of these deals, valued at US$42.5 billion. Additionally, Dubai continues to report healthy growth in its capital markets infrastructure, the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) attracted 10 times more investors in Q1 2024 compared to the five-year period before 2019, 85% international investors. DFM offers bespoke programs to support startups in the pre-initial public offering (IPO) stage to raise capital and access investors from around the world.

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