STEP 2015: MENA gears up for $1bn start-ups

A number of local technology start-ups which will be valued at $1 billion or more, referred to as ‘unicorns’, will increase in the next three to five years, according to the panelists at the STEP 2015 conference held on Tuesday.

During a panel about acquisitions and exit strategies in the MENA region, Amir Farha, co-founder and managing partner at BECO Capital said the region had witnessed over 40 exits in the last 15 years which demonstrated the rapid development of the regional venture capital industry.

The exit market for start-ups before 2005 took between seven to 11 years to materialise while it has recently dropped to between four and eight years, at similar or higher valuations. “We will see many exits coming at relatively high valuations of over $100 million or more,” Farha added. “But what will put the region on the world map of venture capital will be the first $1 billion exit, whether through a trade sale to strategic company or even through an IPO.”

Farha cautioned the regional industry of losing their next unicorns if they didn’t support their winners properly and if they didn’t time their exits correctly.

Original article by Tamara Pupic

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STEP 2015: MENA gears up for $1bn start-ups