The UAE is home to an ever-expanding ecosystem of startups and a diverse investor landscape, encompassing a mix of local and international players, including government-backed funds, venture capital firms, and angel investors.
With its strategic location, startup-friendly policies, and robust infrastructure, the UAE has become a hotspot for entrepreneurial ventures. Government-backed initiatives, such as the Dubai Future Foundation and the Abu Dhabi Investment Office, actively promote innovation and technology-driven enterprises.
Among the initiatives contributing to the region's startup ecosystem is Hub71. Yachting Ventures partnered with Hub71 during the Abu Dhabi International Boat Show to provide startups an opportunity to explore avenues to soft land in the UAE. As part of their extensive startup support offering, Hub71 actively collaborates with VC firms and angel investors to help drive growth within their community.
In this article and based on our visit to Hub71 in November 2023, we share some of the most active investors in the region to help you better understand the fundraising landscape and key players.
Mubadala Capital Venture's mission is to partner early with visionary founders to build enduring technology companies and support them by bringing to bear Mubadala’s scale, resources and capital.
The Global Ventures team have years of experience and expertise in building and scaling companies. Global Ventures is a regional venture capital fund backing global-minded founders, leading growth-stage companies and using technology to transform emerging markets.
Binance Labs identifies, invests, and empowers viable blockchain entrepreneurs, startups, and communities, providing financing to industry projects that help grow the wider blockchain ecosystem.
A member-led Micro-VC made up of more than 100 like-minded investors in Seed and Series A rounds of early-stage technology companies with high growth potential.
Eiffel Investment Group invests in corporates and infrastructures, with debt and equity strategies. The firm focuses on sustainable investments and the energy transition. Eiffel Investment Group cultivates strong industrial expertise and is a long-term partner for the companies it invests in.
Since its inception in 1993, Pitango has invested in over 250 companies and saw more than 85 become publicly traded companies or acquired by strategic players. They have raised more than $3 billion to date and invest via three dedicated funds: Pitango First, Pitango Growth and Pitango HealthTech.
Raed Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm that partners with exceptional founders building transformative companies that will shape the future of the UAE region. Raed helps startups build and execute their visions through collaborations with their portfolio companies and sister companies, leveraging their knowledge and expertise
Nuwa Capital is a radical investment platform reshaping the relationship between founders and capital. Launched in the Summer of 2021 and running every quarter, participants join a bespoke 6-week program built to help them develop the necessary skills to identify and vet investment opportunities.
Iliad Partners invests in early-stage technology companies with a focus on the MENA region. They partner with founders to help them build their startups into high-growth ventures that will become the disruptive companies of tomorrow.
With a commitment to ensuring strong, lasting support for blockchain innovation, the Algorand Foundation fosters an open and transparent system where anyone can participate, develop, and innovate on the permissionless Algorand protocol guided by the vision of an inclusive economy.
Investible is an early-stage venture capital firm backing the visionaries advancing humanity through technology. Founded in 2014 and with offices in Sydney and Singapore, their unique approach to early-stage tech investment globally sees their VC Funds co-investing alongside members of Club Investible, an active, global investor community.
Mangrove Capital Partners is a contrarian, bold but patient investment firm helping innovative entrepreneurs start and grow global, disruptive companies. They back a wide range of ventures across information technology with an emphasis on mobile, software, e-commerce and the mobility industry.
Founded in 2012, BECO Capital is one of the first early-stage VC firms to have been founded in the UAE with a focus on MENA. Today, they are one of the largest non-governmental venture firms with around $450m in assets under management.