Abu Dhabi - Mubasher: Crescent Enterprises announced on Tuesday launching a corporate venture capital arm, with plans to invest $150 million over the next three years.
About 50% of these investments will target start-ups across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, according to the company’s statement.
The announcement was made by Crescent Enterprises CEO, Badr Jafar, speaking to the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival, along with Abraaj Group CEO Arif Naqvi and Wamda Chairman Fadi Ghandour.
“Over the past two years, we have made one investment every month on average. In the last six months alone, we have invested in a wide range of start-ups from a Silicon Valley-based drone company for the industrial sector and robotic surgery technologies, to an e-commerce platform for fisheries in India,” said the company’s CEO Badr Jafar.
“We also seeded entrepreneur graduates from the American University of Sharjah who are developing an artificial intelligence project management system,” added Jafar.
“In the Middle East we are approaching a juncture where the private sector needs to drive the next wave of innovation and growth, whilst at the same time addressing our region’s most acute social, economic and environmental challenges,” he further noted.
