Image: Courtesy of YC
Although, the Australia vs West Indies match may be important for some, but the selection for the latest summer group of YC from the MENA region is more important to the tech industry.
The summer group of YC includes seven startups from the MENA region. Although it is accounted for less than 10% of this summer, the number of start-ups in the region is steadily increasing, reflecting the growing global interest in the region’s technology ecosystem.
The seven startups selected are the financial technology companies Baraka, Nomod and Amenli, and the e-commerce and logistics platforms Shipblu, Chari, Freterium and Odiggo. A demo day is planned for August this year. YC's latest winter batch includes Egyptian fintech technologies NowPay and Dayra, and UAE's Ziina technology.
Due to the increase in online shopping and the increase in digitalization, financial technology, e-commerce and logistics are the three fastest growing industries in the Middle East and North Africa. In the first six months of 2021, financial technology startups raised US$306 million, and e-commerce companies raised US$181 million. Million, and logistics startups brought in US $103 million.