Dubai tops as region’s top venture capital destination

Dubai: Dubai has taken the top ranking among Middle East and Africa destinations in attracting venture capital from abroad. This is based on rankings put out by fDi Intelligence that tracks venture capital flows.

It is also the first time fDi Intelligence has come up with such a listing.

London was the most favoured destination for such investments, as well as being the top sourcing city. Between 2010-19, the City had the highest number of inbound (240) and outbound (210) greenfield FDI projects announced by private companies and financed by venture capital (VC) investors.

And despite continuing doubts set off by Brexit, a “record” $9.7 billion was invested into London-based startups in 2019, according to fDi Intelligence. New York was the second most popular destination city, recording 115 inbound investments into startups, followed by Singapore (113), Paris (99), San Francisco (65) and Berlin (63).