ADQ launches Dh1.1 billion fund to invest in Asian startups
Source: The National
ADQ, one of the region’s largest holding companies, launched a Dh1.1 billion ($300 million) venture fund to invest in early-stage Indian and Southeast Asian startups and help them set up a base in Abu Dhabi’s Masdar City.
Alpha Wave Incubation (AWI) Fund will be based at the emirate’s financial hub, Abu Dhabi Global Market, the company said in a statement on Wednesday. The programme will be managed by New York-based Falcon Edge Capital.
AWI will help the budding Asian businesses gain market access to the UAE and the broader Middle East North Africa region. These companies will benefit from the “exceptional digital infrastructure” already in place as well as highly advanced regulatory frameworks and other R&D initiatives, it said.
“As a national champion for the Abu Dhabi government, we are working to embed a performance culture across our broad portfolio that includes many of our emirate’s most important strategic commercial entities,” Mohammed Hassan Alsuwaidi, chief executive of ADQ, said.
ADQ is looking to maximise long-term impact of its investment on society, and will invest in companies that are “pioneering cutting-edge technologies and developing new and innovative business models”, he said.
“Nurturing Abu Dhabi’s start-up ecosystem will attract entrepreneurial talent, create jobs and other opportunities, particularly for those working in data science, artificial intelligence and other knowledge-based industries,” Mr Alsuwaidi said.
Mayank Singhal, head of venture capital and technology at ADQ, said AWI will help the company invest in start-ups that will generate sustainable, long-term financial returns and bring young entrepreneurs to Abu Dhabi.
"We will aim to support them in ways that accelerate their development to create a new wave of winners in the tech landscape," he said. "These start-ups will also benefit from access to ADQ’s leading companies in sectors such as healthcare, food and agri-business, utilities and FinTech.”
