JEDDAH — Wamda Capital on Sunday launched a $75 million regional growth stage venture fund, Wamda MENA Ventures I, the largest of its kind in the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region. The Fund has completed its first close with leading regional and international investors, including the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, the Abraaj Group, Crescent Enterprises and Zain Group.
“This new fund is indicative of investor confidence in the region,” said Fadi Ghandour, Executive Chairman, Wamda Capital. “It fills an emerging equity funding gap facing entrepreneurs, which inhibits otherwise scalable companies from unlocking market potential and becoming regional and global successes.”
With the launch of the Fund, Wamda Capital is poised to become the MENA region's premier venture capital firm with investment teams on the ground in the region's innovation hubs of Dubai, Amman and Beirut with a presence planned in Cairo.
As entrepreneurs, the investment team understood that the lack of emerging equity financing inhibits growth in start-ups. Wamda MENA Ventures I builds on the success of the team's seed stage investment vehicle MENA Venture Investments, the region's largest seed stage investment fund. Wamda Capital's core strategy is to target investments in high growth and capital efficient technology start-ups led by exceptional entrepreneurs – leaders in their markets.
Wamda Capital's key value proposition to its portfolio is the ability to provide on-going and in-depth strategic support, access to lucrative markets in the GCC through unique partnership programs and in-depth subject matter expertise in key segments such as e-commerce, digital content, fin-tech and enterprise e-offerings. Wamda Capital's investment team has an unrivalled breadth of experience, each having been deeply involved in building entrepreneurial companies. — SG
