Bahrain’s Al Waha Fund of Funds is investing in a fintech-centric fund in the Middle Eastern and North African region (MENA region) and Pakistan as demand for fintech services and digital payments surges amid the COVID19 pandemic.
The USD 50 million VentureSouq’s FinTech Fund I, underpinned by the Mubadala Investment Company, invests in early-stage fintech firms tangled within payments infrastructure, digital banking, alternative credit, personal financial management, and property technology, Al Waha Fund of Funds stated in a statement on 6th January 2021 (Thursday).
Fund Director at the Al Waha Fund of Funds, Areije Al Shakar, stated that the fintech opportunity in MENA is evolving in the present day hyperconnected and digitized world, and we are proud to be working unswervingly with VentureSouq’s FinTech Fund I to explore the maturing sector, in addition to facilitating first-hand accessibility to the Bahraini market.
Shakar stated that the collaboration focuses on bridging the gap between MENA and Bahrain to deliver mentorship, networking, and financing prospects for the region.
Demand for digital payment transactions and other fintech services has proliferated during the pandemic as more people utilize online banking services to hand over money and recompense for e-commerce transactions.
Universally, digital payments are estimated to mature to USD 8.26 trillion in 2024, from USD 4.4 trillion in 2020, according to Statista.
VentureSouq’s FinTech fund, underpinned by Jada Fund of Funds, a Saudi Venture Capital firm, UAE’s DisruptAD, and Mubadala Investment Company, has already capitalized in over 40 FinTech firms around the globe.
Suneel Gokhale, the general partner of VentureSouq, stated that the new-fangled FinTech fund explores the prospect to sanction a maturing market that is in its primary days. Owing to the intersection of enhanced elasticity amongst regulators and a drive towards digitisation, the FinTech space has emerged as a very stimulating prospect for investors, Gokhale stated.
VentureSouq is also seeking to invest in health technology and food technology sectors as it estimated them to vastly progress in the next few years.
The Bahraini government-underpinned Al Waha has invested over 61% of its comprehensive fund into a plethora of local and global venture capitalists, inclusive of Beco Capital, Middle East Venture Partners, Finch Capital, Shorroq Partners, 500 Startups, MSA Capital, B&Y Venture Partners and several others.
About Al Waha Fund of Funds
The Al Waha Fund of Funds was set up in 2018 to tend to the Venture Capital community in MENA. The government-led enterprise pursues to invest in Venture Capital reserves that will capitalize unswervingly, or that have a tactical interest, in the MENA region, at early and mature stages of financing.
The proficiency and commitment behind the Al Waha Fund of Funds team allow for an exclusive dais for Venture Capitalists. Not only are they giving accessibility to Al Waha’s portfolio of Venture Capital managers and limited partners, but they also benefit accessibility to a trusted partner, delivering general ecosystem sustenance in Bahrain, inclusive of collaboration prospects and networks.
About VentureSouq
VentureSouq is a MENA-based venture capital company capitalizing in high maturity primary-phase technology firms. The MENA region inhabits approximately 380 million people. Comprehensively, it has everything – deep, focussed pools of capital, excessive natural resources, a vastly talented and literate workforce, and governments that are enthusiastic to drive the regulatory framework.