Enhance Ventures launches $30 million fund to invest in FinTech and trade in the Middle East
Enhance Ventures, a regional venture studio, has launched a $30 million Builders Fund to invest in new fintech and commerce initiatives in the Middle East.
Through the fund, the company plans to “create 5,000 high-tech jobs, produce 500 business leaders, train 50 talented founders and be the institutional co-founder of at least five major exits in the region” over the next five to 10 years, it said in a statement Thursday.
“As a venture studio, we materially support entrepreneurs in the early stages of venture development, when they need help the most. This dramatically increases the success rate of start-ups,” said Mohammad Al Hokail, Partner at Enhance Ventures.
Venture studios build startups, from idea conceptualization to launch, while providing capital and guidance. They also support their growth through internal capabilities and external support.
Currently, there are more than 730 active venture studios in the world, with 50 percent of them launched in the past five years, the Dubai International Financial Center reported.
Enhance was launched in 2016 and has two main offices in Dubai and Riyadh. The company, which focuses on building digital businesses in the Middle East, North Africa, Pakistan and Turkey, also has a technology center in Istanbul and satellite offices in Cairo, Amman and Beirut.
“Trends such as Web3, open banking, the transition to a cashless society, the need for frictionless consumer and SME financing and the growth of B2B commerce have created new opportunities,” said Ritesh Tilani, partner at Enhance Ventures.
Acting as an institutional co-founder, Enhance Ventures offers entrepreneurs support through its venture building methodology, venture architects, technology development, marketing support, human resources, financing and office space, among others, added Alper Celen, partner at the company.
Enhance’s first venture, Joi Gifts, is one of the region’s largest online gift marketplaces. It was spun off from the studio 10 months ago after it raised funding from investors such as Knuru Capital and Panthera Capital.
Other portfolio companies include Right Farm, a business-to-business agricultural technology firm; Clever, a platform that provides small and medium-sized businesses with sales and marketing tools; and Blue Terra, a marketplace that supplies environmentally friendly and organic products.
Last year, the company also launched Enhance Innovation to support companies and government organizations with their studio strategy and in building individual businesses and studios.
The new unit has collaborated with players such as DIFC and ADQ, one of the region’s largest holding companies.
Updated: July 28, 2022, 3:45 p.m
