Introduction

We created this guide to keep you informed on the latest developments and trends in venture capital funding in MENA. 

This first edition is bursting with informative content on a variety of topics, including best practices for early-stage venture due diligence, board dynamics and composition in growth-stage financings and how to navigate a down round among many others.  We’ve also included a highly topical article on an emerging ‘new normal’ in venture deal terms in the current macroeconomic climate.

Written with our clients in mind, the content in this edition is based on topics we’ve been asked to advise on when doing business in the region and draws on a deep foundation of deal flow and data points across multiple markets gathered by the enormous Taylor Wessing Corporate Technology team which spans the key global markets from San Francisco to Hong Kong. 

As many of you know, my team and I have recently joined Taylor Wessing having built an exceptional venture capital and technology transactions practice serving clients from across the region as well as many players from Silicon Valley, New York and Europe seeking to establish a footprint in our region.  

It's been a privilege to have a front row seat and play a role in the emergence of the Middle East ecosystem and to have worked on some of the region’s most groundbreaking deals. I'm proud of the strong reputation and relationships we've built with some of the most well-known VC funds, corporate venture funds, sovereign investors, family offices and companies raising early to late-stage capital along with many notable M&A transactions.  

Our decision to join Taylor Wessing was primarily driven by client demand for global coverage but also by the enthusiasm and excitement shown by the firm in expanding its well-established and highly reputed capability into our rapidly emerging ecosystem. In many ways, it’s a testament to how far the regional ecosystem has come that one of the world’s leading specialist law firms has decided that it has to have a footprint in this region; and at scale. 

There are so many value-adds the Taylor Wessing network will deliver for our clients. Aside from global reach and deep institutional knowledge of market practices in venture and technology deals across the world, there are also specific capabilities that most of our competitors don’t possess.  

For example, our market-leading VC practice in Amsterdam provides unrivalled expertise in the Dutch investment structures proving so popular for VC financings in Egypt and Turkey.  We’re also able to offer specialised venture debt capability with substantial deal experience and knowledge of how venture debt security packages are structured and implemented. In addition, there's a small army of corporate technology specialists our clients can draw on, with experts in 29 offices around the globe and further support on US law matters through our strategic partnership with Silicon Valley’s pre-eminent VC law firm, Wilson Sonsini. The VC practice’s connection to Taylor Wessing’s market-leading Private Wealth team also provides unrivalled expertise in assisting individuals and family offices to invest in VC funds and tech opportunities in the MENA region.

As regional investors and fund managers look beyond MENA to Pakistan, Turkey and sub-Saharan Africa and as regional companies look to scale up across the region and beyond, our team’s experience in navigating this legally fragmented landscape will add immense value to those wishing to succeed and mitigate risk in multi-country strategies. 

I hope you enjoy reading this guide. Please do reach out if you have questions or if you need a specialised team to help you get your deal done in what is currently a challenging environment.