Faisal Alhamer Pledges $1.0 Billion in Investments to UAE-Based Start-ups

Venture capitalists (VCs) helped UAE-based startups raise $1.20 billion last year across 155 transactions, confirms Magnitt. According to Philip Bahoshy – CEO of the leading startup data platform for emerging venture markets:

“2021 was more than just a record-breaking year for VCs, rather it’s been a defining year. While the global pandemic posed great pressures on governments, private sectors, and startup ecosystems alike, the year 2021 marked the resurgence of VC activity tenfold.”

Faisal Alhamer founded MECC Ventures: here’s why

What’s more exciting is that the growth trajectory for startups in the United Arab Emirates looks promising for 2022 as well. Part of this growth will be driven by a veteran VC, Faisal Alhamer, who recently pledged to invest $1.0 billion in the UAE-based startups in 2022.

Earlier in February, Alhamer founded MECC Ventures, a private equity company based “in the UAE, for the UAE”. The sole purpose of the venture capitalist firm is to execute the announced investment in companies throughout the Emirates.

Alhamer’s commitment to UAE-based startups is in line with the region’s broader target to home at least 20 startups worth over $1.0 billion by the start of the next decade.

Being a tech hub that’s home to experts from around the world, Emirates enjoys a competitive advantage when it comes to attracting business investments. Government incentives, including lower taxes, global connections, and a world-class lifestyle, are among other reasons why entrepreneurs pick UAE to set up a business.

Alhamer is a name broadly known and revered in the UAE, particularly in the business landscape. With over twenty years of experience in venture capitalism, he has a history of investing in more than 150 startups across the Emirates.

The Columbia Business School graduate believes in helping businesses with more than just money. His leadership and expert advice on corporate strategy serves to put startups on an accelerated growth trajectory. On his watch, dozens of companies have turned into substantial enterprises, building his name as a successful, profitable angel investor.

Credentials to his name are virtually never-ending. Alhamer also serves as the CEO of ABA Group – a diversified investment company headquartered in the UAE with operations spanning all over the GCC region. Under his leadership, the group has made high-return investments across several industries over the past two decades. Alhamer believes in building long-term strategic partnerships that maximize stakeholder value and increase employment opportunities in the Emirates.

The entrepreneur hasn’t yet disclosed the companies or sectors that are on his watchlist for the planned $1.0 billion investment. Historically, however, he’s known to fund the hospitality industry, finance, real estate, technology, travel and tourism, automotive, and human resources sectors. It is, therefore, a fair assumption that startups in these sectors are likely to receive sizable financing from the billionaire investor in 2022.

UAE closed one mega-deal last year

In 2021, the Emerging Venture Markets (EVMs) saw $6.8 billion in funding, up 228% year-over-year. 44% of investments in this region went to companies in UAE and Turkey. The Emirates closed one mega-deal last year out of the total of 12 in EVMs, defined as over $100 million in financing. As per Global Ventures’ Basil Moftah:

“2021 has been an extraordinary year for the region’s venture capital industry. Between fundraising and deal-making, Mena’s ecosystem was in hyperdrive this year. Whether it is record-breaking amounts of funding, growing appetites for later-stage transactions, the rising occurrence of diversified deal types (from M&A to venture debt) or the increasing number of mega-rounds, the region is signalling maturity. Underpinning these quantitative metrics is a pool of increasingly sophisticated entrepreneurs building world-class tech solutions and proving, year in and year out, that some of the most exciting opportunities of tomorrow will originate from emerging markets.”