The long-term investor and multi-business operator Agility Global announced that its corporate venture capital division will contribute to a new fund that will finance early-stage Middle Eastern and African businesses.
Global Ventures, a Dubai-based investment company that specializes in growth-stage emerging market investments in MEA, is in charge of managing the new fund.
Agility Global’s venture capital arm has amassed a portfolio of investments through which it has invested in clean energy, e-commerce, digital logistics, 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 supported initiatives to bolster the entrepreneurial ecosystems in the Middle East and Africa and has given resources and knowledge to early-stage businesses creating go-to-market plans.
“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 commercialise 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 venture 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 oversees three funds that focus on Middle Eastern and African innovative companies. Agility Global will contribute to the third fund of Global Ventures, which was founded earlier this year with the goal of funding startups that are advancing supply chain, energy, and agri-tech innovations.
Global Ventures’ first fund, launched in 2018, has a thematic focus on fintech. In order to concentrate on investments in health technology and digital health innovation, the company launched a second fund in 2022.
