GCC-based venture capital firm VentureSouq (VSQ) announced the launch of its MENA FinTech Fund I, the region’s first sector-specific fund focused on FinTech across the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region and Pakistan.
The $50 million VentureSouq fund invests in early-stage FinTech and SaaS companies and focuses on key subsectors including payments infrastructure, alternative credit, digital banking, PropTech, InsurTech and personal financial management, working closely with innovative regional entrepreneurs that are disrupting financial services.
VentureSouq General Partner Suneel Gokhale commented on the new fund: “Prior to the MENA FinTech fund, we were early investors alongside some of the biggest global VCs in a number of FinTech companies, including high-profile ones such as Jeeves, Khatabook, Belvo, FamPay, Vouch, Point, Atomic and Fondeadora. In 2020 we started to reflect on what FinTech adoption in the MENA region was going to look like and we dove right in. Based on what we have seen in other emerging markets that we have invested in, we believe it is still early days in terms of the FinTech ecosystem in the MENA region and we are really excited about the overall opportunity set.”
VentureSouq MENA FinTech I is backed by regional powerhouses including Jada Fund of Funds program and Saudi Venture Capital Company (SVC), Bahrain’s Al Waha Fund of Funds, UAE’s DisruptAD, ADQ’s venture platform, and Mubadala Investment Company, as well as multinational conglomerates such as OFC, the Middle East investment arm of The Olayan Group.
