Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP) announced today the second close of Middle East Venture Fund II (MEVF II) at more than US$30 Million. MEVF II is a venture capital fund that invests in the region’s early stage technology and mobile businesses. The Fund is MEVP’s fourth venture capital (VC) fund, increasing the firm’s total Assets Under Management (AUM) to US$120 Million, and establishing the firm as one of the largest institutional VC investors in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region.
Key Highlights:
· With this latest fundraising, MEVP’s total AUM has increased to US$120 Million, establishing the firm as the largest independent VC in MENA
· MEVF II offers regional start-ups Series A funding between US$500 Thousand and US$3 Million
· The Fund focuses on early stage web and mobile businesses in the region
· The Fund’s valuable investor base includes a regional bank, blue chip GCC-based investors, media people as well as a regional telecom operator
· MEVF II is already operational and has executed nine ventures across the GCC and wider MENA region
MEVP has successfully achieved its US$30 Million fundraising target for MEVF II. The Fund is currently oversubscribed but MEVF II might accept further subscriptions in the upcoming two weeks. The Fund, already operational with nine ventures executed across the region, will pursue its investment strategy in the GCC and wider MENA region, with a particular focus on technology ventures in the UAE.
The principals of MEVP consists of the region’s prominent finance and technology professionals, including entrepreneurs who have created, built and exited successful companies – some of the leading Managing Partners are Walid Hanna (founder of Arab Business Angels Network, and former CEO of the venture arm of Dubai International Capital), and Ihsan Jawad (founder of Zawya.com, which was acquired by Reuters).
Middle East Venture Fund II (MEVF II) is leveraging MEVP’s extensive regional network to generate a flow of high quality deals and accelerate the value creation of the portfolio companies by assisting them in hiring the right talent and acquiring the needed resources to reach their full potential.
Since inception, Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP) has invested in 28 companies – most of which are MENA market leaders, and has created more than 900 jobs in the region. MEVP completed its first exit in December 2014 when its portfolio company Shahiya.com, the region’s leading user-generated Arab food recipes website/app, was acquired by the billion-dollar publicly-traded Japanese firm Cookpad in a transaction that yielded a 130% IRR.
