The Most Active VCs in the Arab World in 2012
This week we highlight the Arab world’s most
active venture capital funds. These VC’s are targeting startups at
different stages in their development to empower the overall
ecosystem in the Middle East and North Africa.
The list includes several defining factors including the stage of investment, focus countries, sector interest, the number of deals finalized so far this year, the number of deals expected to close before the end of 2012, average amount of investment, and the average size of the round, which includes co-investment.
You can also find contact information below each VC to learn more. The VC’s are listed by number of finalized deals so far in 2012 as of this article's publishing date.
1) MENA Venture Investments Ltd.
| Stage: | Early, Growth |
| Country Focus: | Region Agnostic |
| Sector: | Sector Agnostic |
| Deals Finalized in 2012: | 12 (Undisclosed) |
| Additional Deals Expected in 2012: | 0 |
| Average Ticket Size: | $120,000 |
| Average Size of Round: | $600,000 |
To contact MENA Venture Investments, click here.
| Stage: | Early |
| Country Focus: | MENA |
| Sector: | Sector Agnostic, bias towards ICT |
| Deals Finalized in 2012: | 10 (Link to Portfolio) |
| Additional Deals Expected in 2012: | 3 (Undisclosed) |
| Average Ticket Size: | $250,000 |
| Average Size of Round: | $750,000 |
To contact Wamda Capital, e-mail capital@wamda.com.
3) Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP)
| Stage: | Early, Growth |
| Country Focus: | Lebanon, MENA, Global |
| Sector: | Sector Agnostic |
| Deals Finalized in 2012: | 9 (Link to Portfolio) |
| Additional Deals Expected in 2012: | 2 (Undisclosed) |
| Average Size of Round: | $600,000 |
To contact Middle East Venture Partners, click here.
| Stage: | Seed, Early, Growth |
| Country Focus: | Jordan, U.S. |
| Sector: | Tech, Online, Mobile Services |
| Deals Finalized in 2012: | 12 (Link to Portfolio) (Updated) |
| Additional Deals Expected in 2012: | 3 (Undisclosed) (Updated) |
| Average Ticket Size: | $250,000 |
| Average Size of Round: | $750,000 |
To contact Silicon Badia, click here.
| Stage: | Seed, Early, Growth |
| Country Focus: | Jordan, MENA, Turkey |
| Sector: | ICT, Energy, Environment |
| Deals Finalized in 2012: | 6 (Undisclosed) |
| Additional Deals Expected in 2012: | 2 (Undisclosed) |
| Average Ticket Size: | $170,000 |
| Average Size of Round: | $450,000 |
Tweet at DASH Ventures here.
6) Ideavelopers
| Stage: | Early, Growth |
| Country Focus: | Egypt |
| Sector: | Tech |
| Deals Finalized in 2012: | 6 (Link to Portfolio) |
| Additional Deals Expected in 2012: | 3 (Undisclosed) |
| Average Ticket Size: | $1-1.5 Million |
| Average Size of Round: | $1.5-2 Million |
To contact Ideavelopers, click here.
| Stage: | Early, Growth |
| Country Focus: | Egypt, MENA |
| Sector: | Tech, Online, Mobile, Hardware |
| Deals Finalized in 2012: | 6 (Undisclosed) |
| Additional Deals Expected in 2012: | 3 (Undisclosed) |
| Average Ticket Size: | Undisclosed |
| Average Size of Round: | Undisclosed |
To contact Sawari Ventures, click here.
| Stage: | Growth |
| Country Focus: | Lebanon |
| Sector: | ICT |
| Deals Finalized in 2012: | 4 |
| Additional Deals Expected in 2012: | 2 (Undisclosed) |
| Average Ticket Size: | $300,000 |
| Average Size of Round: | $300,000 |
To contact the Berytech Fund, click here.
| Stage: | Seed, Early |
| Country Focus: | Morocco |
| Sector: | IT |
| Deals Finalized in 2012: | 4 (Link to Portfolio) |
| Additional Deals Expected in 2012: | 1 (Undisclosed) |
| Average Ticket Size: | $360,000-$3.1 Million |
| Average Size of Round: | $430,000-$3.7 Million |
To contact the Maroc Numeric Fund, e-mail contact@mitccapital.ma.
10) MBC Ventures
| Stage: | Seed, Early |
| Country Focus: | Saudi Arabia, UAE, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco |
| Sector: | Telecom, Media |
| Deals Finalized in 2012: | 4 (Link to Portfolio) |
| Additional Deals Expected in 2012: | 8 (Undisclosed) |
| Average Ticket Size: | $300,000-$500,000 |
| Average Size of Round: | $1 Million |
To contact MBC Ventures, email mbcventures@mbc.net.
11) BECO Capital
| Stage: | Growth |
| Country Focus: | UAE |
| Sector: | E-Commerce |
| Deals Finalized in 2012: | 3 (Undisclosed) |
| Additional Deals Expected in 2012: | 3 (Undisclosed) |
| Average Ticket Size: | $450,000-$750,000 |
| Average Size of Round: | $750,000-$1 Million |
To contact BECO Capital, click here.
| Stage: | Early |
| Country Focus: | Egypt |
| Sector: | Telecom |
| Deals Finalized in 2012: | 3 (Link to Portfolio) |
| Additional Deals Expected in 2012: | 3 (Undisclosed) |
| Average Ticket Size: | Undisclosed |
| Average Size of Round: | Undisclosed |
To contact Vodafone Ventures Egypt, click here.
13) Aureos Capital
| Stage: | Growth; Small and Medium Cap (SMC) |
| Country Focus: | MENASA, Turkey, LatAm, Africa |
| Sector: | Sector Agnostic |
| Deals Finalized in 2012: | 2 (Undisclosed) |
| Additional Deals Expected in 2012: | 3 (Undisclosed) |
| Average Ticket Size: | $2-$10 Million |
To contact Aureos Capital, click here.
Other VCs Becoming Active In MENA
We have also included some VC’s that either recently launched or are just beginning to focus their portfolios on MENA startups. They are listed alphabetically.
Earlybird Ventures is a European VC which has invested in over 70 companies since it was founded in 1997. They recently invested in Peak Games in Turkey and have an eye on MENA’s digital media and tech startups.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is
looking to invest in North African and Jordanian SMEs, recently
investing
over US $25 million in a fund targeting Tunisian and Moroccan
startups and providing finance for
Jordan’s InvestBank. EBRD is also looking to provide investment
to Egyptian startups in the near future.
Hummingbird Ventures, started in Belgium in 2000, focuses primarily on IT and online services, namely digital media, social media, e-commerce, cloud computing, infrastructure software, enterprise software, gaming and mobile applications. Their flagship investment in MENA is MarkaVIP. They have also invested in Turkish startup Peak Games.
Oasis500 invests seed capital through their VC, Oasis Ventures 1, for qualifying Oasis500 trainees. Oasis Ventures 1 has invested in Jamalon, Zaytouneh, Madfoo3atCom and the late Wheels Express.
Investing in primarily seed and early-stage Palestinian startups, Sadara Ventures aims to invest in sectors including gaming, software, mobile apps, and communication. They seek to invest around US $2 - 3 million in multiple stages to only two to three new startups per year. Their first portfolio company is Yamsafer, a hotel booking startup they invested in last month.
Launched earlier this year, Sinbad Ventures is targeting early-stage global web and mobile startups with average investment of US $500,000. The fund aimsl to invest in seven startups every year.
With a focus on IT, telecommunications, and digital media/entertainment, STC (Saudi Telecom Company) Ventures started in late 2011 and is based in Dubai, UAE and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. They invest in companies across MENA and Turkey with a range of US $1 - $5 million.
Focusing on supporting Arabic content in media and entertainment, twofour54 invests between US $500,000 and $5 million in early and growth stage startups. They aim to expand the availability of original Arabic content out of their hub in Abu Dhabi.
Y+ Ventures invests in early-stage tech startups focusing on advertising, communications, mobile payment platforms, e-commerce, gaming, media, search, and social networking. They invest in MENA startups, mostly in the GCC and Levant with investment rounds of around US $1-$3 million.
