Dubai's largest private equity firm venturing into venture capital

Until very recently, if you asked someone in Abraaj Capital, the largest private equity firm in the Middle East, if they do venture deals, you would hear something like "Not usually and the Maktoob investment was an exception". From today this is going to change radically.

Today Abraaj Capital announced that it agreed to acquire all of Riyada Ventures, one of the leading venture capital firms in the MENA region. They have mentioned the acquisition as being at the core of a major new push by Abraaj into the small and medium enterprise (SME)

Riyada Ventures, which was set up in the Jordan in 2005, has a track record which encompasses more than 25 regional and international venture-capital transactions, and also operates an office in Cairo. Its founder and CEO Khaldoon Tabaza has worked in the MENA venture-capital industry since 2000, prior to which he set up several entrepreneurial ventures. In 2006, the World Economic Forum (WEF) named him a 'Young Global Leader'.

Congratulations to Khaldoon and his team. Their full press release follows. (To see more Dubai investors like Abraaj check our investors directory)