BECO Capital to invest $100m in Middle East tech startups

Venture capital firm BECO Capital is set to invest $100m in tech startups in the Middle East.

The firm has announced the close of its second fund at $100m – higher than an initial target of $80m. According to the firm, the increased raise was driven by “the significantly improved technology investment landscape” the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

To date, BECO Capital has made 22 investments across its two funds, having supported startups including Careem and Property Finder. These investments have collectively raised more than $1bn in follow-on capital, and created more than 9,000 jobs in the region.

BECO Fund I has seen no fewer than four exits to date, the most recent of which include Uber’s acquisition of Careem in March, and Cisco’s acquisition of Voicea this past August (which previously acquired BECO’s portfolio company Wrappup in April 2018).

READ: Careem expands operations in Iraq

The BECO Fund II includes support from several BECO Fund I investors. It is anchored by RIMCO Investment and the International Financial Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group. Al Waha Venture Capital Fund of Funds – from Bahrain – is the first regional sovereign wealth fund to back BECO. Other notable investors include institutions such as Warba Bank and family offices such as Watar Partners and KAAF Investments.

BECO Capital invests in early stage technology startups, primarily with founding and engineering teams based in the MENA region. BECO’s investment strategy is to invest in a diverse range of promising startups at the Seed and Series A stage, and then provide follow-on capital to its best performing portfolio companies.

Says Dany Farha, co-founder and managing partner of BECO Capital: “Success stories like Careem have produced dozens of highly skilled and experienced individuals, who have built businesses to global standards and at immense scale. We believe these individuals will go on to have the equivalent of PayPal in the region, building the next wave of great companies that will serve regional and global markets.”