Startups in the Middle East and North Africa raised $1.7 billion across 242 funding rounds in the first half of 2026, according to Wamda. Female-founded companies secured just $2.5 million through 14 transactions, or 0.14% of the total. Male-founded startups captured about 95% of capital, raising roughly $1.6 billion across 213 deals. Mixed-gender founding teams accounted for the remainder.
A gap in deal size, not only in deal count
Wamda’s figures also point to a difference in ticket size. Our calculation from its data puts the average round for a female-founded startup at around $180,000, against about $7.5 million for a male-founded one, a ratio of roughly 1 to 40. The challenge for women founders is therefore not only getting funded but reaching capital large enough to scale.
A persistent trend
The gap is not new to the second quarter. Wamda’s March 2026 report noted that no disclosed funding went to female-founded startups that month, mirroring February. Overall funding was also weaker. The H1 total is 18% below the $2.1 billion raised in H1 2025, and deal volume fell 28%. Wamda describes a market that is more selective and less reliant on debt, which made up 29% of capital raised, down from 44% a year earlier.
The figures also say something about how capital is concentrated. The UAE alone accounted for about 70% of regional funding, and capital is flowing mainly to larger ecosystems and established founders. Women-led businesses, often earlier-stage and raising smaller amounts, sit outside that flow.
This is where banks, funds and family offices could make a difference. At Woman Banker, we believe several questions deserve attention:
• Can lending and guarantee mechanisms fill the gap where equity is scarce?
• Can institutions dedicate part of their allocations to women-led businesses at growth stage, where the ticket-size gap is widest?
• Can investment committees and decision-making teams reflect the diversity of the founders they finance?
We will keep following these questions across Africa, the GCC and MENA, and we welcome the perspectives of our readers and network.
Source: Wamda, “MENA startups raise $1.7 billion in H1 2026 despite regional uncertainty” (July 2026); Wamda, MENA startup funding report for March 2026.
