Startup investment rises in Egypt and Cyprus

Egyptian technology startups raised $56.45 million across 15 transactions in the third quarter of 2026. The funding was heavily concentrated in September, which accounted for $49.2 million of the total. This recovery was largely driven by the fintech sector, specifically Paymob, which secured $35 million in a pre-Series C round to support regional expansion and AI development, and Zeal, which raised $10 million for payment-linked technology.

In Cyprus, startup investment reached €112.8 million across 28 funding rounds in 2026, approaching the full-year total recorded in 2025. The largest single round was secured by Omilia, an AI voice agent developer, which raised $67 million in a Series B round led by Expedition Growth Capital.

Separately, Cyprus’ financial intelligence unit reported 24,092 suspicious activity reports in 2025. The surge was primarily driven by crypto-asset service providers, which accounted for 20,570 of the reports, reflecting the growth of cross-border financial business and virtual asset transactions in the region.