Rasmal Ventures, which is Qatar’s first independent venture capital (VC) company that was established in 2023, announced funding from QIA as part of its Fund of Funds program.
This funding is received into Rasmal Venture’s inaugural and home-grown venture capital fund, Rasmal Innovation Fund I, targeting high-performance startups and scales up across a variety of innovative technology sectors, including fintech, B2B SaaS, health tech, and AI.
Rasmal Innovation Fund I is the first fund announcement as part of QIA’s $1 billion Fund of Funds program that became open to applicants in February 2024. To date, the Rasmal Innovation Fund I has closed funding from QIA’s Fund of Funds, corporates, family offices and individual high-net-worth investors with an aim to reach $100 million in investment commitments. This fund is only open to professional investors as defined in QFCRA regulation.
The Rasmal Innovation Fund I is managed by a highly experienced team of VC experts that have collectively managed more than 100 VC deals, along with impressive exits.
The Rasmal Ventures Innovation Fund I targets investments in innovative and high-performance technology startups and scaleups across Qatar, the wider Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, and internationally at pre-Series A, Series A and Series B stages. Even though the fund will scout all technology sectors agnostically, it will have a strategic interest in fintech, supply chain logistics, HealthTech, B2B SaaS and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
The launch of Rasmal Innovation Fund I aligns firmly with the country’s Third National Development Strategy (NDS3) aiming to contribute to the creation of a buoyant tech ecosystem which is underpinned by easy access to a range of investment and funding opportunities.
KEY QUOTE:
“As the first private VC fund based in Doha, we have forged strong partnerships with leading Qatari institutions to work closely with exceptional founders, stimulate innovation, and meet the region’s unique needs. While still in the early stages of capital deployment, we take pride in our first investments in proprietary tech startups. The trust QIA and our other investors placed in us is a testament to our team’s capabilities and dedication. We will continue to grow our presence across the region and execute our highly selective investment strategy to establish ourselves as a key player in the MENA VC landscape.”
• ⁃ Alexander Wiedmer, Co-Managing Partner of Rasmal Ventures
