UAE-based VC fund targets region’s promising startups, entrepreneurs

ABU DHABI  – OCT. 2, 2024 – Agility Global, a multi-business operator and long-term investor, said its corporate venture capital arm will invest in a new fund aimed at providing capital to early-stage Middle East and Africa companies.

The new fund is managed by Global Ventures, a Dubai-based investment firm that specializes in growth-stage emerging markets investing in MEA.

Through its venture capital arm, Agility Global has built a portfolio of investments that includes stakes in clean energy, digital logistics, e-commerce, healthcare and agri-tech startups. Its portfolio includes companies that are MEA-based or pursuing market opportunities and expansion in the region.

Agility Global has backed efforts to strengthen the MEA’s entrepreneurial ecosystems and provided resources and expertise to early-stage companies developing go-to-market strategies.

“We are passionate champions and advocates for businesses led by the region’s new generation of entrepreneurs and innovators,” said Agility Global Chairman Tarek Sultan. “The Middle East and Africa are brimming with innovation and entrepreneurial energy. Through our venture capital arm, Agility Ventures, and our investment in Global Ventures’ new MEA fund, we are encouraging the region’s startups and entrepreneurs to commercialize and scale great ideas and innovations.”

Sultan said: “We’re conscious that only about 15% of all VC ‘cheque-writers’ are women, and we’re excited to be backing a women-led fund in the region. We hope that as the ventures ecosystem in the region continues to grow, it will create new opportunities for a range of stakeholders, including women-led businesses, and we’re committed to being part of growing that broader ecosystem.”

Noor Sweid, Founder and Managing Partner at Global Ventures, said: “Anticipating a shift towards resource efficiency in sectors such as supply chain, our new fund, Fund III, is strategically aligned with industries poised for technological transformation in emerging markets over the next decade. With our focus on supply chain technology, we are incredibly grateful for the support of Agility Global, a long-standing leader in the supply chain sector regionally and globally. We are thrilled to have a true partner in Agility Global as we continue to back mission-driven founders addressing critical challenges across the Middle East and Africa.”

Global Ventures manages three funds, all of which target innovation companies in the Middle East and Africa. Agility Global will invest in Global Ventures’ third fund, which was established earlier this year to provide capital to startups innovating in the areas of supply chain technology, energy technology, and agri-tech.

Global Ventures’ first fund, launched in 2018, has a thematic focus on fintech. The firm established a second fund in 2022 to focus on investments in health tech and digital health innovation.