Mercury News – When Yahoo bought Jordan-based Maktoob.com in August 2009 for a reported $85 million, it barely made a ripple in U.S. technology circles. But the deal for the leading Arabic online community had a seismic effect on the fledgling startup economy in the Middle East.
The Zawya Private Equity Monitor, reported that Arab private equity funds allocated only $72 million to venture capital funds. And according to Renaissance Capital, the Middle East — excluding Israel — has accounted for only 3 percent of the world’s 197 initial public offerings so far in 2010.
