Dubai – Decypha: Gulf Capital has allocated more than AED500 million for technology and ecommerce investments across the GCC region.
Destination of the Word was the first technology platform that Gulf Capital has invested in, which is an online accommodation wholesalers platform that already has a wide range of coverage from North America to Asia Pacific, the company announced in a statement.
Gulf Capital has also invested in sports products and supplements marketplace Sporter.com and Middle East’s platform Emirates Auction.
“We forecast a substantial increase in technology investments in the GCC and significant returns to be generated for the early backers of these technology companies,” said Karim El Solh, CEO of Gulf Capital.
According to the company, the digital economy sector in emerging markets, which is estimated at $4 trillion in 2016, is expected to see growth of 25% annually in the emerging markets,.
In the same line, Business to Customer ecommerce has more growth potential in the MENA region as it grew by 15% in 2015, compared to 11% in the UK and 12.5% in North America.
“The UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon remain the leading regional hubs for tech startups and hence are attracting significant early stage and private equity investments,” the statement read.
Gulf Capital is an Abu Dhabi-based asset management firm that manages more than AED14.7 million of assets.
By Decypha Editorial Team
