Watar Partners, a Saudi advisory firm for private family offices, has participated in a $700 million investment in Wonder, a New York based food delivery business. Established in 2018, Wonder is a food delivery enterprise offering access to a variety of restaurants within a single order. It was founded by serial entrepreneur and former Walmart e-commerce chief Marc Lore. (Watar Partners, established in 2014, provides financial advisory services to the private investment offices of select families. It has offices in Saudi Arabia and UAE and is led by Abdulwahab A Al Betairi, Tarek Al-Rumaim and ..read more

Dubai investment firm Oraseya Capital, has taken part in a $5.5 million series A funding in Remote Pass, a Boston-based HR and fintech platform. Established in 2020 with a 55-member team serving over 360 businesses in 50+ countries, RemotePass makes it easy for companies to handle their global remote workforce. Other investors in this round which is led by 212 VC includes Endeavor Catalyst, Khwarizmi Ventures, Flyer One Ventures, Access Bridge Ventures, A15, and Swiss Founders Fund. (Founded in 2023 by the Dubai Integrated Economic Zones Authority DIEZ, Oraseya Capital is a venture capital fir ..read more

Abu Dhabi investment firm International Media Investments, has taken part in a $158 million debt financing in The Very Group, a UK-based online retailer. The Very Group, based in Liverpool and established in 1861 from as a mail-order catalogue business, generates £2.15 billion in annual revenue. It operates digital retail brands Very and Littlewoods, serving 4.4 million customers. (International Media Investments IMI is an Abu Dhabi private investment firm owning media brands like The National and CNN Business Arabic and stake in EuroNews. They also invest globally in media brands through Redb ..read more

Prosperity7 Ventures, the venture fund of Saudi Aramco Ventures, has led a $14 million investment in Shenzhen Cispoly Bio-Tec, a Chinese developer of women's health screening tools. Established in 2020 in Beijing, Cispoly focuses on improving women's health by detecting gynecological tumors early. They have special technology for cervical, ovarian, and endometrial cancers. The company is known for its research, development, and sales of automated testing equipment. (Prosperity7 serves as the diversified growth fund under Aramco Ventures, a subsidiary of Aramco, the Saudi energy and chemicals c ..read more

Dubai Investments, an investment company listed on the Dubai Financial Market, has acquired additional stake in Monument Bank, a UK-based regulated digital bank, increasing its holding to 16.93 percent. Launched in 2021, Monument Bank has opened more than 10,000 accounts for wealthy savers, with account balances averaging over £60,000. (Dubai Investments is incorporated in 1995 and has invested heavily outside of UAE. Mr Khalid Kalban sits on the board of Monument) Dubai Investment is listed in the Middle East Investors Directory with the code OR191. What we like about the deal: Monument Bank ..read more

Saudi investment firm Aramco Ventures and a consortium has acquired stake in Pulsora, a A US-based platform for enterprise sustainability management for $20 million. Founded in 2021, Pulsora helps more than 400 businesses measure, report, and improve their sustainability and ESG initiatives. Other investors include Carica Sustainable Investments, Sabancı Climate Ventures, and JetBlue Ventures (Aramco Ventures is the corporate venturing arm of Saudi Aramco and is based in Dhahran Saudi Arabia.) Aramco Ventures is listed in the Middle East Investors Directory with the code BS15 ..read more

Saudi investment firm Aljazira Capital and a consortium has acquired stake in Axiom Space, a US firm for $350 million. Founded in 2016, Axiom Space has completed the first private mission to the International Space Station and it is also currently building the first commercial space station. It is led by Michael Suffredini, who served as NASA's International Space Station Program Manager from 2005 to 2015. (Founded in 2008 and based in Riyadh Saudi Arabia, Aljazira Capital is a financial investment firm that invests regionally in startups like Floward and Tarabut and internationally) Aljazira ..read more

Bloomberg has a very interesting article on how Silicon Valley VCs are "frantically trying to get into parties held in the region by UAE and Saudi Arabian investors, without an invite"! Read the full article below: Tech VCs Resort to Party Crashing in Middle East During Downturn An Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund and others have deep ties to Silicon Valley. ByBiz Carson, Lizette Chapman and Mark Bergen May 4, 2023 at 11:30 AM GMT+3:30 Silicon Valley has taken investment from moneyed state-run funds in the Middle East for years. Now that the technology industry is mired in a downturn, those rel ..read more

Qatar Investment Authority and a consortium has acquired stake in Celonis, a German software company, for $400 million. Launched in 2011, Celonis provides software solutions for companies to run their business processes entirely on data and intelligence. (QIA was established in 2005. Headquartered in Doha, it was founded as a means to strengthen the country's economy. the fund predominantly invests in international markets United States, Europe and Asia-Pacific and within Qatar outside the energy sector.) Qatar Investment Authority is listed in the Middle East Investors Directory with the code ..read more

Prosperity7 Ventures, the growth fund of Saudi Aramco Ventures, has led a $35 million investment in Insilico Medicine, a Hong Kong-based AI-driven drug discovery company. Based in Hong Kong with more than 200 employees, Insilico Medicine develops an AI platform for drug development to treat cancer and age-related diseases.Alex Zhavoronkov is its founder and CEO. (Prosperity7 is the diversified growth fund of Aramco Ventures, a subsidiary of Aramco, the Saudi energy and chemicals company, with $1 billion venture capital fund and a global investment strategy in all sectors). More details about t ..read more