Signature(s)
Summary sheet
- Services - Financial and insurance activities
The proposed operation concerns a participation in Middle East Venture Fund IV (the "Fund"), a closed-end venture capital fund focusing on start-ups active in the digital and technology sectors in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
The Fund will focus on start-ups with high growth potential and support them in growing from Seed stage to Series A, Series B, with the objective of becoming national and regional champions. Through its investments, the Fund is expected to contribute to several Sustainable Development Goals including SDG 5 (Gender Equality), SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) and SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure).
This operation will contribute to the growth the Venture Capital ("VC") market in the Middle East North Africa ("MENA") region, which still lags in terms of total funding as a ratio to GDP compared to established countries (in 2019 this ratio was at 0.03% in the MENA region compared to 0.63% in the US, 0.35% in India and 0.23 in China). Founded in 2010 and with a proven track record, the fund manager is uniquely positioned to deploy the intended investment strategy. It has showed it could support regional and world champions such as Anghami, the MENA replica of the music streaming application Spotify.
The EU has the ambition to address the digital divide in partner
countries including the Neighbourhood Countries and Africa. In March 2021, 25
Member States signed the European Gateway Ministerial Declaration to support
the connectivity between the EU and its international partners. The project
supports Europe's ambitions to encourage the region's transition to a digital
economy.
EIB as anchor investor has been able to contribute to the
structuring of this investment proposal raising standards and thus the Fund
Manager is now better positioned to attract international reputable private and
public investors for the long-term.
The Fund's operational guidelines provide for environmental and social due diligence of investee companies according to guidelines acceptable to the EIB.
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