MENA VC Funds

Sawari Ventures is a leading venture capital firm based in Cairo, Egypt, focusing on knowledge and innovation-based technologies across North Africa. Established in 2010 by Ahmed El Alfi and Hany Al-Sonbaty, the firm has played a pivotal role in supporting the region’s tech ecosystem. With $70 million in assets under management, Sawari has invested in over 30 companies across sectors such as fintech, healthtech, edtech, logistics, and e-commerce. Sawari primarily targets early and growth-stage startups, with investments ranging from $1M to $3M per deal. Notable portfolio companies include SWVL, a ride-sharing platform that went public, and Instabug, a software bug reporting tool used by global tech companies. The firm also plays a crucial role in Egypt’s startup scene by founding Flat6Labs, one of the region’s most prominent seed accelerators. In addition to its investment activity, Sawari is committed to responsible investing, integrating ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) criteria into its decision-making process. With its recent $1 billion fund dedicated to Egyptian tech startups, Sawari continues to drive growth by fostering innovation and supporting scalable businesses that can transform the local economy. Sawari’s dual fund structure—combining local and international capital—enables it to leverage deep local knowledge with global expertise, solidifying its position as a crucial player in North Africa’s venture capital landscape.

Seedstars International Ventures (SIV) is the flagship emerging-markets venture capital arm of the Seedstars Group, the Swiss-founded global platform operating 15 offices, 100-plus team members, and coverage of more than 90 startup ecosystems worldwide. SIV invests at pre-seed and seed stages across Latin America, Africa, MENA, Central and Eastern Europe, and Asia, with a deliberate focus on the economies projected to be among the top 20 by GDP in 2050: India, Indonesia, Brazil, Mexico, Nigeria, Egypt, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Vietnam. SIV Fund I was a $30 million vehicle; SIV Fund II (launched 2022) targets $30 million with a $20 million first close, backed by the IFC, Visa Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation's Zero Gap Fund, and Symbiotics. Fund II is led by General Partner Patricia Sosrodjojo, a former Venture Partner at Indonesia's AC Ventures with 15-plus years of Asia-Pacific investing and consulting experience. Average checks run $150,000 to $350,000, and the fund leads rounds. The thesis centers on fintech and the future of commerce as multi-decade structural opportunities across emerging markets, with a strong preference for B2B models addressing access to financial services, healthcare, education, energy, agritech, e-commerce, and SaaS. Across 93-plus investments in 30-plus countries, named portfolio companies include Dastgyr (Pakistan B2B commerce), Foodics (MENA restaurant SaaS), OlaClick (Latin America), Omnibiz (Nigeria B2B commerce), and TAXO — where SIV led a $1.2 million seed alongside 500 Global. The portfolio has produced one unicorn (Webflow) and two acquisitions (Orcas and MyRobin). SIV's global network across the Seedstars platform gives its founders access to co-investor relationships, pilot partnerships, and market entry support in regions where early-stage capital and institutional ecosystem infrastructure remain thin relative to the scale of the opportunity.

Sente Ventures is a Chicago-based global deep-tech investment platform founded in 2008 and led by Founder and CEO Serhat Cicekoglu. The firm invests across equity, debt, and hybrid vehicles in partnership with family offices and institutional limited partners, and operates with a team of 12 including 2 partners. The mission is to back zero-emission deep-tech solutions across human essentials — agriculture, food, and water — and the industrial circular economy: energy transition, logistics, and upcycling. Adjacent interests span supply-chain and warehouse technology, digital health, transportation, and industrial technology. Sente's positioning as a 'collective and collaborative' investor reflects its model of leveraging a diverse LP base, corporate partners, and non-dilutive debt capacity to help portfolio companies scale in capital-intensive, mission-critical sectors. The portfolio spans 56 startups across 24 countries with concentrations in the US, Turkey, Israel, and other emerging innovation hubs. Named investments include Kybele's Garden (biotech, pre-seed April 2024), AstraKode (blockchain development platform), and M-Based (seed, July 2024). The firm has produced one unicorn and three exits, most recently Udentify in October 2023. In 2025 Sente announced a framework agreement with DeepGreenX for a $25 billion, five-year Green Infrastructure Investment Program focused on clean energy generation, virtual grids, battery storage, microreactor power, and data center infrastructure supporting AI and compute hubs. Cicekoglu and the Sente team approach each investment as a long-term platform relationship rather than a transactional capital placement — combining capital structures, corporate development support, and international networks to accelerate the commercialisation of deep technology in sectors where patient, mission-aligned capital is rare.

Soma Capital, founded in 2015 by Aneel Ranadive, is a venture capital firm based in San Francisco, California. The firm focuses on early-stage investments in software and technology startups that aim to automate and improve various sectors. Soma Capital's approach is stage- and sector-agnostic, investing globally in regions such as Africa, the Middle East, South America, and Asia. Soma Capital has raised several funds, with its latest, Soma Capital Fund III, closing at $412 million in January 2022. This fund is used to support unicorn and startup software companies around the world. The firm has made significant investments in over 1,097 companies, including notable names like Cruise, Rappi, Ironclad, Human Interest, Razorpay, Rippling, and Lambda School. Soma Capital has seen 19 of its portfolio companies achieve unicorn status and has been involved in more than 140 exits. The firm’s leadership includes Founder and Managing Partner Aneel Ranadive, along with partners like Mir Faiyaz and Nikhita Jaaswal. Soma Capital's mission is to invest in transformative technology solutions that can impact billions of people globally​.

Sparkmind.vc is the first Nordic venture capital firm focused exclusively on the learning sector. Founded in Helsinki, Finland, the firm invests in early-stage startups that are transforming education across various levels, including early childhood, K-12, higher education, vocational training, and corporate learning. Sparkmind.vc supports companies that improve learning outcomes, expand access to education, enhance process efficiency, or generate actionable insights from educational data. The firm typically invests in Seed to Series B stages, with individual investments reaching up to €5 million. While their primary focus is on Europe, Sparkmind.vc also selectively invests in companies outside the region, particularly those with a strong potential for international scalability. Their portfolio includes companies like Vygo, which focuses on higher education tutoring, and Fretello, an AI-driven music education platform. With a final fund size of €55 million, Sparkmind.vc aims to back around 20-25 companies, often taking a lead role in funding rounds. The firm’s leadership team brings extensive experience in education, venture capital, and strategic business development, making them well-equipped to guide their portfolio companies to success.

Sultan Ventures is a boutique early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2009 and based in Honolulu, Hawaii. It was co-founded by managing partners Omar Sultan and Tarik Sultan, with Dr. Aya Sultan as a founding partner; Meli James serves as Head of New Ventures, directed the XLR8UH accelerator, and is President of the Hawaii Venture Capital Association. The firm is largely sector-agnostic but concentrates on pre-seed and seed financing rounds alongside preferred investment partners, typically as a co-investor. Its sector interests span healthcare, biotech, edtech, fintech, entertainment, information technology, aviation, energy, food and beverage, and consumer products. Sultan Ventures looks for visionary founders building sustainable businesses, placing heavy emphasis on education and strong team dynamics, and provides due diligence, deal sourcing, capital-raise and business-planning support through its network of experts and investors. It operates XLR8UH, an award-winning venture accelerator investing in University of Hawaii entrepreneurs and technologies that Forbes named among the top 30 US accelerators, and manages the Upside Fund, which can invest up to $600K in companies using University of Hawaii intellectual property. As of 2016 it had invested in around 23 companies, with notable holdings including RedVox Infrasound, MeetingSift and SimpliFed. The firm has expanded internationally through the acquisition of Acasia Group, targeting opportunities in the Middle East and Africa. By anchoring itself in Hawaii's university and startup ecosystem, Sultan Ventures backs founders and commercializes academic innovation.

Supermoon Capital is a pioneering venture capital firm exclusively focused on the rapidly growing sleep industry, which they refer to as the "Night Market™." Launched in 2021 with a $36 million fund, Supermoon Capital seeks to address the global epidemic of insufficient sleep, which affects 75% of Americans and has been declared a public health crisis by the CDC. The firm invests in early-stage startups across various sectors, including software, medical devices, and consumer products, all aimed at improving sleep health through science-backed innovations. The firm’s portfolio is diverse, featuring companies like Endel, an AI-driven platform that creates personalized soundscapes to enhance sleep and reduce stress, and EnsoData, which uses FDA-cleared AI software to assist clinicians in diagnosing sleep disorders like sleep apnea. Other notable investments include FreshBed, a Netherlands-based company that designs beds optimizing air quality, temperature, and humidity for better sleep, and Clair Labs, an Israeli startup revolutionizing patient monitoring with contact-free technology for clinical-grade physiological monitoring. Supermoon Capital was co-founded by industry veterans Pat Connolly, Michael Masterson, and Grayson Judge. Connolly, with his extensive background at Williams-Sonoma, brings a wealth of experience in business strategy and e-commerce. Masterson and Judge contribute deep expertise from the healthcare and venture capital sectors. Together, they provide more than just capital; they offer a robust network of sleep science experts and strategic partners to help their portfolio companies succeed. Supermoon Capital is positioned as the premier source of expertise and funding in the emerging sleep economy.

Techstars is a global platform for investment and innovation that has supported over 4,000 startups since its inception in 2006. Based in Boulder, Colorado, Techstars operates accelerator programs worldwide, providing early-stage startups with access to capital, mentorship, and a vast network of investors and partners. Their portfolio spans a diverse range of industries, including HealthTech, FinTech, Web3, CleanTech, and more. Notable companies in their portfolio include Chainalysis, DataRobot, and Remitly. Techstars has facilitated over $27.3 billion in total funding for its startups, with a cumulative market cap of $113.6 billion​. Techstars' investment strategy involves pre-seed and early-stage investments through their accelerator programs. They invest up to $120,000 in each startup during the accelerator program, and follow-on investments through their Venture Fund. This strategy allows them to support companies from their initial stages through to growth​.

TEN13 is an innovative venture capital firm based in Fortitude Valley, Australia, co-founded by Stew Glynn and Steve Baxter in 2019. TEN13 operates on a deal-by-deal investment model, allowing its network of over 500 investors to choose specific deals they want to back. This model offers flexibility and targeted investment opportunities, enabling investors to allocate capital more precisely. TEN13 focuses on early-stage investments in diverse sectors, including fintech, health and wellbeing, education, and AI. Notable portfolio companies include Clipchamp, an online video editing platform acquired by Microsoft, Go1, an online learning platform that recently raised $200 million from Softbank, and Chipper Cash, a leading African fintech app. The firm has seen significant growth, deploying over $70 million across 32 startups since its inception. TEN13 is known for its supportive approach, providing more than just capital. They offer strategic guidance, network connections, and operational support to help startups scale effectively. This hands-on approach has been a key factor in their success, with several of their portfolio companies achieving substantial growth and recognition. TEN13’s team includes experienced professionals like Sophie Robertson, who was recently promoted to Partner, and Joel Pobar, who joined as a Venture Partner to strengthen their AI investments. The firm continues to expand its presence, recently building connections in Southeast Asia and North America to support and discover new opportunities.

The Fund VC, established in 2018, is a unique venture capital firm that operates a community-driven investment model. It focuses on early-stage startups across a variety of sectors including technology, consumer goods, and healthcare. The Fund VC operates through a network of micro-funds spread across different cities such as New York, Los Angeles, London, and Sydney, each managed by a group of local investors with deep expertise in their respective markets. The Fund VC has made notable investments in companies like Tia, a women’s health tech company; Parsley Health, a holistic health startup; and Bravely, a platform providing on-demand professional coaching. This portfolio reflects their commitment to backing innovative solutions that address significant market needs. The firm leverages its extensive network of founders, operators, and investors to provide not just capital but also mentorship and strategic support to its portfolio companies. This approach helps startups navigate early challenges and scale effectively. The Fund VC is particularly known for fostering a strong community among its portfolio companies, encouraging collaboration and shared growth​

The Helm is a New York City-based early-stage venture capital firm with a mission to invest in female-founded companies and redefine the venture landscape by focusing on gender-lens investing. Founded by Lindsey Taylor Wood, The Helm has become a prominent player in supporting women-led startups across various industries including healthcare, sustainability, and technology. Notable portfolio companies include Tia, a modern healthcare provider for women; Venus Aerospace, pushing the boundaries of hypersonic transportation; and Rebellyous Foods, revolutionizing plant-based meat production. The Helm’s investment strategy emphasizes identifying undervalued companies that demonstrate significant promise early on, ensuring they have the capital to achieve their potential. Their average check size varies, but they are known for leading funding rounds and maintaining active engagement with their portfolio companies. Startups seeking investment should highlight innovative solutions and robust business models that align with The Helm’s focus on female empowerment and sustainability. The team at The Helm includes Lindsey Taylor Wood, who leads the fund’s strategy and fundraising efforts; Julie Weber, COO and General Partner, with extensive experience in fund administration and operations; and Olivia Fleming, Partner, who directs the fund’s sustainability initiatives and angel investor network. This experienced team supports a diverse portfolio of over 20 companies and maintains a strong community of investors and founders committed to advancing female entrepreneurship.

TheVentureCity, founded in 2017, is a global early-stage venture capital firm focused on product-centric startups across the US, Europe, and Latin America. The firm manages over $150 million in assets, investing from pre-seed and seed stages up to Series A, with investment sizes ranging from $100,000 to $500,000. TheVentureCity's diverse portfolio includes companies such as Sidekick in financial services, Tiny Health in biotechnology, and Moonflow, a SaaS platform for debt collections. These investments highlight their commitment to sectors like AI/ML, cybersecurity, FinTech, and SaaS. Operating with an operator-led model, TheVentureCity provides both financial backing and strategic support to help startups scale globally. This approach has led to successful funding rounds and the growth of companies like Fixme Connect, BrandLovrs, and Plexigrid. Key team members, including founders Laura González-Estéfani and Clara Bullrich, leverage their extensive experience in technology investment and international scalability to drive the firm’s success and support portfolio companies effectively.

Third Prime is an early-stage venture capital firm focusing on financial and industrial technology sectors. Established in 2016 by Keith Hamlin and Wes Barton, the firm leverages their extensive backgrounds in M&A law, private equity, and hedge funds to identify and invest in paradigm-shifting startups. Notable investments include companies such as Moonware, which automates aviation ground operations, and Paywatch, which offers financial wellness services in Asia. The firm prioritizes close partnerships with entrepreneurs, offering both capital and strategic guidance. With a keen eye for early insights and a commitment to optimizing outcomes for both founders and investors, Third Prime has built a diverse portfolio. This includes companies like Halborn, providing blockchain security, and Inspiren, using AI to enhance patient safety in healthcare​. Third Prime's team is composed of seasoned professionals with backgrounds in law, investment banking, and technology. Key members include Mike Kim, with over a decade of investment experience, and Jenny Bloom, a former corporate associate at Wilson Sonsini. This experienced team supports Third Prime's mission to drive success through independent thinking, focus, and rigor.

Travel Capitalist Ventures is a sector-focused venture capital firm that has invested exclusively in travel technology since its inception in 2010. It positions itself as the only sector-native, emerging-market-native fund dedicated to travel, providing venture and growth equity to travel fintech, travel technology platforms, payments, travel content and hospitality businesses. The firm backs founders across B2B, B2C and B2B2C models, investing from pre-seed and seed through to Series B. Cheques generally range from about $500,000 to $1.5 million, and the firm reserves growth capital for companies that have achieved product-market fit and are looking to capture defensible market territory, typically as a co-investor. Its geographic focus is on high-growth emerging markets including MENA, Africa, South Asia and Turkey, and to date it has made roughly ten investments across seven countries spanning the Middle East, India, Asia and the United States. The firm is headquartered in Irvine, California, with additional offices in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, South Africa and Qatar, and its partners and venture partners are former travel executives who have scaled companies in more than 50 countries. Travel Capitalist Ventures was founded and is led by Founding Partner Abrar Ahmad, a former travel agent, online travel agency owner and travel-technology CTO who is based in Dubai. Notable portfolio companies include Eilago, TRK.ALL and Jatri, alongside a travel AI platform, a Brazilian meta-search engine, a corporate apartment service and a cruise membership program. By focusing solely on travel technology in emerging markets, the firm backs founders digitizing global travel.

Tribe Capital, established in 2018, is a venture capital firm based in San Francisco, California. The firm manages over $1.6 billion in assets, focusing on investments from seed to growth stages across various sectors, including technology and cryptocurrency. Tribe Capital employs a data-driven approach to identify and amplify early-stage product-market fit, aiming to invest in companies with the potential to become category leaders. Founded by Arjun Sethi, Jonathan Hsu, and Ted Maidenberg, Tribe Capital leverages the extensive experience of its founders, who have previously built and invested in notable companies like Facebook, Gusto, and Slack. The firm emphasizes a bottom-up investment strategy, aiming to be the best capital allocators by iterating rapidly and maintaining a strong focus on product-market fit. Tribe Capital's portfolio includes companies such as Carta, Relativity Space, Shiprocket, Kraken, and Bolt. The firm also has a strong presence in the cryptocurrency market, investing in projects like Berachain, Akash, and Cyberconnect.

Unicorn Growth Capital is a forward-thinking venture capital firm, established in 2020 and headquartered in New York City. The firm focuses on investing in fintech-enabled companies that are reshaping the financial services infrastructure of the digital economy. Unicorn Growth Capital specializes in bridging traditional finance (TradFi) with decentralized finance (DeFi), positioning itself at the forefront of innovation in Web3 technologies, blockchain, and cryptocurrency. This unique investment strategy aims to support the development of new financial systems that are more accessible, efficient, and inclusive. Led by Barbara Iyayi, the firm’s CEO and Founding Partner, Unicorn Growth Capital targets early-stage investments, particularly in emerging markets such as Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. The firm believes that these regions offer significant opportunities for financial technology innovations that can address longstanding challenges in financial inclusion and economic development. Unicorn Growth Capital’s portfolio is diverse and impactful, featuring companies like VertoFX, a global B2B payments platform; Bitmama, a startup driving crypto adoption in Africa; and Credrails, which is building open banking infrastructure across the continent. By backing these high-growth startups, Unicorn Growth Capital is not only driving financial innovation but also contributing to the broader goal of economic empowerment in underserved markets. With its strategic focus and expertise, Unicorn Growth Capital is well-positioned to continue leading investments in the fintech sector, particularly as the digital economy continues to evolve and expand​.

Vast Ventures is a venture capital firm that focuses on investing in disruptive companies with a global impact. Founded in 2004 by Doug Chertok, the firm is headquartered in New York, New York. Vast Ventures has a diverse portfolio, investing in sectors such as healthcare, finance, AI, cloud software, and sustainability. They have a strong track record with notable investments in companies like Sweetgreen, Conductor, and Clover Health​. The firm's investment strategy centers on fostering innovation and supporting entrepreneurs who aim to create significant positive change. They emphasize long-term partnerships, providing not just capital but also strategic guidance and support to help their portfolio companies grow and succeed​. Vast Ventures is managed by a team of experienced professionals, including Doug Chertok, Aniq Rahman, and Talia Zapolanski. The team leverages their extensive backgrounds in finance, entrepreneurship, and venture capital to help startups navigate the challenges of early-stage growth​. For startups seeking investment, Vast Ventures is particularly interested in companies that aim to improve health and happiness, promote resource sustainability, increase human potential and productivity, and foster knowledge and empathy. They prefer to lead investment rounds and take active roles in the development of their portfolio companies​.

Venture MENA is a dedicated venture capital fund founded in 2019 and based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, that sources and backs promising early-stage technology startups across the Middle East and North Africa. The fund invests in MENA-based entrepreneurs building new tools and networks that enable businesses to operate in tomorrow's market, writing checks from the seed range through Series A with a defined reserve allocation policy for follow-on rounds, and an average round size of around $1M, generally as a co-investor. Its investments span e-commerce, software, financial services, fintech, SaaS and security among other sectors. Venture MENA operates as a single-GP fund led by founder and Managing Director Mohamed Hamdy, who brings more than two decades of venture capital and private equity experience, including roles as investment director for an Abu Dhabi family office for roughly seven years, Managing Director of the Turn8 accelerator, Head of Future Platforms at the Dubai Future Foundation, and advisor at ADQ. Hamdy went on to become Managing Partner at Further Ventures, a separate Abu Dhabi fund anchored by the ADQ sovereign wealth fund that focuses on fintech, digital assets and logistics. Across his career he has been associated with a broad track record of seed and growth-stage technology investments in the MENA region and beyond. By focusing on MENA-based founders and pairing seed-to-Series-A capital with deep regional experience, Venture MENA backs the technology companies building the tools and networks for the region's next generation of businesses.

Vestel Ventures is the corporate venture capital arm of Vestel Elektronik Sanayi ve Ticaret, part of Turkey's Zorlu Holding conglomerate, founded in 2015 and based in Istanbul. It operates with an evergreen fund structure, meaning it has no fixed fund size, and invests primarily at Seed and Series A stages. The firm targets early-stage deep-tech companies with strategic collaboration potential aligned to the sectors in which Zorlu, Vestel and group companies operate. Its focus areas span healthcare, productivity, human-resource tech, media, artificial intelligence, retail, cybersecurity, smart city, biotech and energy, along with nanomaterials, mobility and automotive technologies. As a strategic CVC, it goes beyond capital, mobilizing Zorlu Holding's resources, communication network and infrastructure to support entrepreneurs across all stages of product development, including design, prototyping, testing, certification and production, as well as marketing, global sales, legal and accounting, generally as a co-investor. Up until November 2024 it had invested in roughly 28 startups, with third-party trackers reporting between 36 and 47 deals, located not only in Türkiye but also in France, the UK and the USA. In 2022 it partnered with Tacirler Portfolio Management to establish the Gelecek Etki Fonu (Future Impact Fund), a venture capital investment fund. Notable portfolio companies include Haystack TV, CYVision, SCADAfence, Onlayer, Dengage and Splitvolt. The firm runs a small team of about six people, including two partners. By pairing evergreen capital with Zorlu Holding's industrial resources, Vestel Ventures backs early-stage deep-tech founders whose technologies align with the group's businesses.

Vibe Capital is a venture fund founded by Ankur Nagpal, known for its focus on early-stage investments in technology-driven startups. The fund's strategy is centered on identifying and supporting innovative companies, particularly those in emerging markets like India, Brazil, and across Africa, reflecting a belief in the transformative power of venture capital in these rapidly growing regions. Vibe Capital has raised two funds so far: the first at $12 million and the second at $70 million, with a significant portion of investments directed outside the U.S. The fund targets sectors like AI, Web3, and deep tech, emphasizing a proactive approach to wellness, financial innovation, and entrepreneurship-enabling platforms. What sets Vibe Capital apart is its no-management-fee structure, ensuring that all raised capital is directed into startups, with a third of the fund's capital coming from the founders themselves. The fund is particularly attractive to entrepreneurs due to the hands-on experience of its team, who are all former founders and operators, providing invaluable support in growth, marketing, and go-to-market strategies. The fund’s network is another strong point, with ties to prominent investors and firms like Bessemer and General Catalyst, offering startups crucial connections for future fundraising.

Wa'ed Ventures is the $500 million venture capital fund wholly owned by Saudi Aramco, established in 2013 from Aramco's Dhahran headquarters to anchor the kingdom's start-up ecosystem under the Vision 2030 economic diversification agenda. The vehicle began as the Saudi Aramco Entrepreneurship Center (Wa'ed) in 2011 and was rebranded as Wa'ed Ventures in 2023 to reflect its pivot from a broad entrepreneurship-support organization into a focused institutional venture capital firm. CEO and Managing Director Fahad Alidi, a Yale-trained energy and environmental economist and former World Bank energy-reform advisor, leads the firm. Wa'ed Ventures writes tickets up to $20 million per investment and runs an explicit 'invest local plus localize global' playbook: it backs Saudi-domiciled tech founders, and it invests in best-in-class international companies on the condition they establish meaningful operations and talent inside Saudi Arabia, and it is willing to lead. The investment mandate spans five core domains, digital and software, sustainability and climate, social innovation, industrial, and advanced manufacturing, with a stated $100M earmark for early-stage AI announced in October 2024. Across approximately 75 to 151 disclosed investments depending on the database, Wa'ed has deployed approximately $270M of capital. Marquee 2024 to 2025 transactions include UK AI cloud-infrastructure company Ori, which is launching a Riyadh subsidiary and deploying Nvidia H200 chips, French quantum computing company Pasqal, which will install the first quantum computer in Saudi Arabia, South Korean AI semiconductor company Rebellions, a $15M Series B Extension in July 2024, and edge-computing infrastructure company Edgenomics. Wa'ed Ventures anchors Saudi Arabia's startup ecosystem.

WePlay Ventures is a dedicated gaming-focused venture capital firm founded in 2020 with offices in Istanbul, Turkey and Amsterdam, Netherlands. The fund invests exclusively in early-stage game studios across Eastern Europe, Turkey and Central Asia building for mobile, PC, console and web platforms, a region with deep gaming engineering talent but historically underserved capital. Tickets are pre-seed and seed-sized, up to $300K per company, in exchange for a target equity stake of approximately 15%, generally as a co-investor. Beyond capital, WePlay runs two structured programs: WePlay HUB, a three-month gaming acceleration program that gives studios access to industry mentors, targeted events and operational resources, and WePlay Starz, a digital platform that helps investment-ready studios surface partners, mentors and collaboration opportunities. The investment team is intentionally small at roughly six people including two partners distributed across the Netherlands and Turkey. Across approximately 17 to 23 disclosed investments the portfolio includes Studio Billion, the AR-multiplayer-RPG studio behind Rumble Suits for mobile and AR glasses, njoyKidz, One Percent, and the firm's most recent reported investment, Infinite Thread Games in June 2025. WePlay's first notable exit came in September 2022 when long-time portfolio company UDO Games, an Ankara-based mobile and web game studio operating since 2013, was acquired by TaleWorlds Entertainment, with WePlay and Lima Ventures selling their stakes at a reported $4.2 million valuation. By focusing exclusively on game studios across Eastern Europe, Turkey and Central Asia and pairing capital with acceleration programs, WePlay Ventures backs the region's gaming talent.

Zaitoun Ventures is a values-driven Israeli investment firm and startup factory founded in 2014 in Tel Aviv by Israeli-Arab Harvard MBA Forsan Hussein and Israeli-Jewish serial entrepreneur Ami Dror. The firm's distinctive thesis is that companies co-built and co-led by Jewish and Arab founders, Zaitoun is Arabic and Hebrew for olive, are commercially advantageous as well as socially constructive, opening market access across the Middle East, North Africa and the Arabic-speaking diaspora and producing more resilient teams. Zaitoun acts as a business-development company connecting Israeli and Arab entrepreneurs, providing capital, strategic guidance, operational support and an international partner network to back disruptive startups across surgical and medical devices, enterprise SaaS, edtech, neurotech, consumer apps and deep-tech hardware, generally as a co-investor. Reported deployment was approximately $19M in its first year of operations with a stated target of around $100M of deployment in 2016. Disclosed portfolio companies include Pi-Cardia in structural heart-valve repair, its most recent reported investment in April 2020, Sodyo in mobile-interaction software, LeapLearner in kids-coding edtech, which Ami Dror also founded, Comedy Break, a Tel Aviv-Ramallah AI comedy personalization company, Myndlift in attention-disorder neurotech, Ninispeech in speech therapy, Sidis Labs in motion-sickness wearables and Teramount in optical connectivity. Recent public activity has been limited since 2020, and current fund size and team roster are not publicly disclosed. By backing companies co-led by Jewish and Arab founders, Zaitoun Ventures pairs capital with a thesis that diverse teams unlock regional market access and resilience.

Zigg Capital is a venture capital firm based in New York City that specializes in proptech, aiming to revolutionize the real estate, construction, and retail sectors through technology. Their notable investments include Spruce Holdings, Crusoe Energy Systems, and Vontive, reflecting their focus on innovative solutions within these industries. Zigg Capital operates globally, investing from seed to Series B stages, with a typical check size ranging from $1M to $10M. They have a strategic approach, emphasizing demographic shifts, evolving preferences, and addressing societal inequalities to improve the quality of physical environments. This is evident in their recent $225 million second fund aimed at supporting visionary entrepreneurs in proptech. The team at Zigg Capital is led by Founding Partner Dave Eisenberg, who brings extensive experience from previous roles at companies like Floored and Red Swan Ventures. The firm values deep research, imagination, collaboration, and respect for the entrepreneurial journey, actively seeking to partner with startups that share their vision for transformative innovation. Startups can approach Zigg Capital via their website, where they encourage pitches that align with their mission to enhance the built environment through technology​