• Announcing close to USD1million SEED funding round
• 500 Startups, the most active VC in the region by number of investments, leads the investment round, followed by a syndicate of regional Venture Capitalists
• Funding will accelerate MAGNiTT’s platform development and expansion plans both regionally and across emerging markets
MAGNIiTT.com, the largest investment data platform for investors, entrepreneurs and corporates in the Middle East, has announced that it has successfully raised close to USD 1 million in funding from both international and Gulf based investors. The funds raised will be used to accelerate MAGNiTT’s platform development and its growth, both regionally as well as across emerging markets.
MAGNiTT differentiates itself from other players by providing users with a rich data platform on a subscription model and by allowing start-ups and investors to connect directly. Based out of Dubai, the platform is the largest online community for startups across the MENA region.
MAGNiTT’s founder, Philip Bahoshy, commented, “As a start-up ourselves, we are delighted with the strong support we have received from the ecosystem for our SEED round. The funds raised will allow us to accelerate our growth, by further enhancing our platform to better serve our existing markets in the first instance, and consequently extending our geographical reach by expanding outside the region where we look to solve similar pain points.”
The investment round was led by 500 Startups, the most active VC in the region by number of investments, along with other regional VCs and angel investors including Middle East Venture Partners, KISP Ventures, Financial Horizon Group and iNet.
Sharif El-Badawi, Partner at 500 Startups said, “At the heart of understanding an industry or building a nascent, fast evolving ecosystem, is knowing who the actors are and the activity taking place. Accurate data and objective transparency for startups, investors and enablers was almost non-existent before MAGNiTT. Now it is the defacto source for researchers and reporters within and outside the MENA region. At 500, we value data and transparency tremendously and it was clear to us that backing MAGNiTT made good business sense all around.”
Walid Mansour, Partner & Chief Investment Officer at Middle East Venture Partners, commented, “For us, as a MENA-focused venture capital firm that invests in the early and growth stages of innovative companies run by talented entrepreneurs, MAGNiTT is a strategic investment on several levels. Firstly, the platform brings much needed reliable and trustworthy information and analysis to our ecosystem. Secondly, we feel that Philip’s vision for MAGNiTT, to foster and help accelerate entrepreneurship in MENA, is aligned with our vision and will help many other start-ups successfully secure funding and in turn be part of the transformation of our region.”
MAGNiTT ‘s findings reveal that founder isolation across the region, and similarly across emerging markets, is a major pain point. To address this, the platform connects entrepreneurs directly with ecosystem stakeholders including funders, mentors, support services such as lawyers, and also talent. Startups can apply for funding directly to VCs and angel networks using their MAGNiTT profile.
Bahoshy added, “For start-up founders across the region, raising funding remains one of the biggest challenges. It is an extremely time-consuming process, and yet it is a key enabler for growth for entrepreneurs. A funding round can take anywhere between 3 months to over a year to close. By creating a data driven startup platform with a focus on access to analytics, our aim is to help accelerate that process. Data remains at the core of investment decisions and this trend will continue to dramatically impact the startup and investor ecosystem over the next few years.”
Having released over 20+ reports since inception, a core focus of the MAGNiTT platform is education through data driven analysis for its subscribers. The platform currently hosts 5,500 start-ups, over 12,000 users including 300+ individual investors and 150+ funding institutions, be VCs or Angel Investors.
Coinciding with the funding announcement, MAGNiTT has just released its new website, with enhanced user profiles, investment tracking notifications, research and analytics tools and a startup job portal for startups and VC portfolio companies. The company is also growing its technology team by onboarding new tech experts.