Bahrain launches $100m VC fund for startups

Al Rumaihi noted that VC investment in the Middle East and North Africa is a “fraction” of that in markets such as the USA and China.

In addition to providing capital to regional startups, the fund is expected to help attract additional venture capital funds to Bahrain, where the start-up scene has benefited in recent years from a reduction in the amount of capital necessary to start a business and measures to enable onshore crowdfunding.

Development Bank senior vice president and head of business services Areije Al Shakar said “With Al Waha, VCs will be here a lot more, and they [start-ups] won't have to wait for an event or to travel to try to get access to funding or expertise.”

“That will further support the growth of our ecosystem,” she said. “At the same time, we have a lot of start-ups that are choosing Bahrain because of ease of set-up costs, access to talent and friendly regulatory environment, but they also need that kind of funding and expertise, and Al Waha will hopefully be able to resolve that.”