Rising Interest of Venture Investors in the Levant Digital Sector Investment driven by growing exports of digital services

Venture capital investors in MENA have their eyes set on the digital sector; three times as many investments took place in 2010-2012 than in 2006-2009, and almost half of all investments were in digital products and services.Most ventures happened in Tunisia, Morocco and Lebanon, who currently lead the region in terms of quantity of VC investments ⁽¹⁾.

Numerous promising initiatives are being launched in the region to back the steadfast growth of early-stage tech and e-commerce ventures. One notable example is Berytech who announced that $30 million will be invested in startups and SMEs starting 2014 with a focus on the creative industries and value-added sectors ⁽²⁾. Another notable example is Aramex’s Founder and Vice Chairman, Fadi Ghandour, who is raising a $75 million to $100 million fund to push forward the growth of early-stage tech and e-commerce ventures within the MENA, mainly in Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, and the Palestinian territories. This fund will provide tech firms with $1 million – $3 million funds for each venture ⁽³⁾. In downtown Cairo, Ahmed Al-Alfi, Founder of Sawari Ventures, the Egyptian venture capital firm, is taking a leap of faith by using his personal funds to create a center for technology startups at one of Egypt’s most volatile flashpoints dubbed “The Greek Campus”. Sawari Ventures’ startup accelerator Flat6Labs has graduated more than 30 companies out of six cycles in two years ⁽⁴⁾. The public sector is also launching initiatives to support entrepreneurship. For example, the Central Bank of Lebanon recently announced that it has dedicated $400 million USD to guarantee 75% of Lebanese banks equity investment in startups, incubators, accelerators, and funds.

Most of these investments are channeled into the Levant, which is emerging as a chief exporter of digital products and services, including software and mobile applications. In Lebanon, more than 60%of firms engaged in ICT pursuits are export oriented, with the majority of profits originating primarily from the Gulf region ⁽⁶⁾. Similarly, almost half of Jordan’s IT revenue comes from export, which has increased from $202 million in 2010, to $300 million in 2012 ⁽⁷⁾. The Levant has a competitive advantage in skilled workforce, and affordable labor. Lebanon, for example, has 40% lower wages than the GCC yet ranks 4th in quality of sciences and math education globally. More than 2000 university graduates related to ICT activities join the sector every year, and the market is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 12% and reach a value of $570 million in 2017 ⁽⁶⁾.

With new investments in startups and SMEs on the rise in Levant, ArabNet will take the opportunity to explore diverse perspectives on entrepreneurship in the region during its upcoming ArabNet Beirut 2014. The 3-day event is a festival of digital creativity, business, and development taking place on March 4 – 6. ArabNet Beirut will feature more than 80 speakers from across the MENA region and abroad to discuss the opportunities in web and mobile for the media and entertainment industries, fashion, creative communities, food and beverage, and more. It will also feature a Design+Code Day, on March 4, which will host workshops for developers and designers to build their skills and network. The event will include ArabNet’s signature entrepreneur competitions, the Ideathon and Startup Demo, as well as the Creative Combat, which aims to highlight emerging regional talents in digital marketing.