DUBAI, UAE, April 19, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --
Fund will offer Series A funding
of between $500 thousand to $3
million in the region's digital economy focusing on web and
mobile businesses in their early stages
Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP) today announced the first
close of Middle East Venture Fund II (MEVF II) at US$15 million. Middle East Venture Fund II
that will invest in the region's tech and mobile businesses, is
MEVP's fourth fund and succeeds its US$70
million Impact Fund that was launched last year for
investments in Lebanon's ICT
sector. The fund will aim to close in second quarter 2015
with US$30 million to invest. Middle
East Venture Fund II is already operational and has approved four
investments:
- YouGotAGift.com: The first of its kind online
marketplace specialising in digital gift cards in the Middle East, with more than 65 retailers
across the UAE, Lebanon,
Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The service offers a fun and convenient
way of sending prepaid Gift Cards from leading brands using the web
and mobile devices.
- Lamsa (http://www.lamsaworld.com): Lamsa World is a
state-of-the-art Arabic digital library tailored for children aged
1 to 7, offering them a world of creativity and imagination. Lamsa
delivers entertainment and fun, along with an interactive,
perceptive, and exciting learning experience via a wide array of
content including interactive stories, games, art, and rhymes.
- The Luxury Closet (http://www.theluxurycloset.com): A fast
growing online marketplace that sells pre‐owned luxury items at a
discounted price and on a consignment basis model, while
maintaining brand and item integrity and ensuring the authenticity
of sold items.
- Altibbi (http://www.Altibbi.com): The Middle East's leading digital medical content
platform that offers several online medical services in Arabic.
These services include a symptoms checker, a medical dictionary, a
directory of hospitals and physicians, an encyclopaedia for
medicines available in the Arab World, and an interactive
physician-patient social platform.
Recent macroeconomic studies suggest that digital capital is not
only growing rapidly but has also become a major contributing
factor in global economic growth. High smartphone penetration rates
and a growing e-commerce sector have made the Middle East and North Africa Region (MENA) a
breeding ground for tech startups that require growth-stage
investments to allow them to survive, grow, succeed and create a
sustainable job base. The region is experiencing unprecedented
growth in capital raised with Venture Capital transactions in ICT
sector dominating investments and transactions - almost half of
total deals completed by Venture Capital funds since 2010 were in
IT and software companies.
"The Arab digital economy is a large one offering strong growth
opportunities, and Middle East
telecoms and tech providers will drive MENA's economic
transformation, " says Walid Hanna,
Managing Partner of MEVP. "We are excited by the promising talent
and technologies emerging in our region. As partners and investors,
we add value to startup companies as we offer our portfolio
companies capital as well as strategic and operating expertise."
MEVF II has attracted a distinguished set of institutional and
professional investors with relevant backgrounds in digital,
telecom and media. Zain Group, a pioneer in mobile
telecommunications in eight markets across the Middle East and Africa, is one of the Limited Partners in MEVF
II. Zain is a leading mobile and data services operator with a
commercial footprint in 8 Middle Eastern and African countries
providing a comprehensive range of mobile voice and data services
to more than 43 million active customers.
Earlier this year, and in order to help manage MEVF II, MEVP
partnered with Ihsan Jawad,
the Dubai-based digital entrepreneur who founded and exited
Zawya.com to Thompson Reuters in 2012. Mr. Jawad also
co-founded Honeybee Tech Ventures which incubated and invested
several consumer Internet ventures.
Collectively, the principals of MEVP bring deep experience from
the financial and tech sectors. They are active investors who have
years of both investment and operational experience, and have
worked with entrepreneurs to create and build successful companies.
Middle East Venture Fund II will leverage the firm's extensive
regional network to generate a flow of high quality deals and
accelerate the creation of value by assisting portfolio companies
in acquiring the right talent and required resources to reach their
full potential.
MEVP, which began operations in 2010, is the region's oldest and
largest independent VC with Assets Under Management that exceed
US$100 million. MEVP completed its
first exit in December 2014 when its
portfolio company Shahiya.com, the GCC's leading user-generated
Arab food recipes website and mobile application, was acquired by
the billion-dollar publicly-traded Japanese recipe website Cookpad
for US$13.5 million, a transaction
yielding a 130% IRR. Since inception, MEVP has invested in 21
portfolio companies - 7 of which are market leaders - employing
more than 300 high skilled professionals across the region.
TwoFour54, an Abu Dhabi government
entity and Dubai Silicon Oasis, a Dubai government entity - have both invested
in The Luxury Closet, one of MEVP's portfolio companies. This is
the first time both governments have invested in a VC-managed
business.
About Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP)
MEVP is a Middle East-focused
venture capital firm that invests in the early and growth stages of
innovative companies run by talented entrepreneurs primarily, but
not exclusively, in the Middle East Region.
With offices in Beirut,
Dubai and Silicon Valley and more
than USD 100 million in Assets Under
Management, MEVP is the largest and most established VC firm in the
region, with clear cross border investment appetite.
MEVP has a unique combination of backgrounds and expertise that
allows it to partner with innovative entrepreneurs and help them
grow and develop, especially in their early stages.
MEVP believes that today, timing is ideal to start companies in
our region. The region has a young, middle-class population that is
rapidly growing, disposable income is increasing due to economic
growth and societies are more aligned with global culture due to
higher levels of connectivity. The company seeks passionate
entrepreneurs with young companies or fresh ideas that are
innovative in their fields. These innovations could be in their
product, service, business model, or value chain. Their
differentiated and proprietary edge will allow them to build a
great brand, customer loyalty, and a robust, healthy business.
For more information about MEVP, please visit
http://www.mevp.com
For media queries, please contact:
Hazar Alzaki
Email: hazar@allthingscomm.com