Abu Dhabi – Mubasher: The Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) has announced the launch of an AED 535 million fund to bolster venture capital activities and startup ecosystem in the UAE’s capital.
Ghadan Ventures Fund, a part of the government’s Ghadan 21 programme, was announced in line with the launch of Abu Dhabi’s Hub71, the ADIO said in a statement.
The newly-established fund has two key programmes that have been designed to boost the number of investors in Abu Dhabi and increase the availability of capital for start-ups based in the emirate, including the ‘Start-up Matching Fund’ and ‘New Managers Fund’.
The Start-up Matching Fund will work on supporting entrepreneurship in Abu Dhabi by increasing the availability of capital to early-stage companies.
Under this initiative, the ADIO will match a start-up’s lead venture capital (VC) investment AED for AED, up to AED 10 million for seed rounds, and AED 50 million for Series ‘A’, per round, according to the statement.
Moreover, the ADIO will invest jointly along with VCs in the capital through the New Managers Fund. The recently established VCs in Abu Dhabi can seek an AED for AED mutual fund based on the sum of money to be allocated in stock markets.
