New Delhi, Sept. 10 -- VentureSouq, an early-stage venture capital firm in the Middle East, has marked the final close of its second fintech fund.
The Dubai-headquartered VC firm has raised the targeted $50 million for VentureSouq (VSQ) FinTech Fund II after securing capital commitments from key sovereign investors in the region.
The fund's limited partners include Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF)-backed Jada Fund of Funds, Saudi Venture Capital, Mubadala Investment Company, and Jordan's Innovative Startups and Small and Medium Enterprises Fund. Other key backers include ADQ's DisruptAD, Bahrain's Al Waha Fund of Funds, Saudi Awwal Bank, Krafton, Takamol Holding ,and Olayan Group's Middle East investment arm, OFC.
The fund, launched in 2023, would focus on fintech sub-sectors including payments infrastructure, alternative credit, digital banking, insure-tech, proptech, and personal financial management, among others.
"With Fund II, we've built on the foundation we established with Fund I-assembling a strategic LP base that understands the evolving MENA venture landscape and is positioned to actively support our portfolio companies as they scale across the region," said Maan Eshgi, general partner at VentureSouq.
The VC firm was founded in 2016 by Suneel Gokhale, Maan Eshgi, Sonia Gokhale, Tammer Qaddumi, and Sonia Weymuller. It has invested in over 100 fintech startups globally. Its portfolio includes 12 India-based entities such as Piggy, SalaryBook, FamPay, and OKCredit. It has invested in nearly 40 fintech startups in the Middle East and North Africa, Turkey, and Pakistan (MENAP) region, and 26 fintech entities in the North America region.
The firm's first fund-VSQ Fintech Fund I-invested in companies such as Tabby, a regional buy-now, pay-later platform; Sary, a Saudi Arabian B2B marketplace; and Huspy, a proptech platform.
VSQ is currently focusing on two themes-fintech and climatetech. It has operations in the UAE, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. It has deployed capital in about 14 climatetech startups, including Indian EV charging network Statiq.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.