Enhance Ventures launches $30m fund to boost finance and commerce in Mideast

• UAE and Saudi Arabia-based venture studio plans to create 5,000 high-tech jobs, produce 500 business leaders, train 50 capable founders, and be the institutional cofounder of at least five major exits in the region in the next 5-10 years.
• Company plans to expedite ecosystem development and increase activity in this ecosystem, starting with Dubai and Riyadh, and other, more developed ecosystems.

Enhance Ventures, a UAE and Saudi Arabia-based venture studio, is set to invest in the future of finance and commerce, especially in the fintech space, in the Middle East with its $30 million Builders Fund.

Through the fund, the company plans to create 5,000 high-tech jobs, produce 500 business leaders, train 50 capable founders, and be the institutional cofounder of at least five major exits in the region in the next 5-10 years.

“As a venture studio, we support founders materially in the early stages of venture development, when they need help the most. This dramatically increases the success rate for startups, and makes entrepreneurship an economic engine for our region,” said Mohammad AlHokail, Partner in Enhance Ventures.

Creating new opportunities

Launched in 2016, Enhance focuses on building innovative digital businesses for the Middle East, North Africa, Pakistan and Turkey.

The company is Saudi-first when it comes to launching and growing businesses, and has a particular focus on the UAE and the rest of the GCC.

It also has a technology centre in Istanbul, and satellite offices in Cairo, Amman and Beirut.

 “As a studio, we plan to expedite ecosystem development and increase activity between this ecosystem, starting with Dubai and Riyadh, and other, more developed ecosystems,” AlHokail said.

In 2021, the company also launched a new corporate innovation business unit called Enhance Innovation to support corporations and government organisations with their studio strategy, and in building individual ventures and studios of their own.

 “Trends such as web3, open banking, the move to a cashless society, the need for frictionless consumer and SME finance, and the growth of B2B commerce have created new opportunities in the MENAPT region,” Ritesh Tilani, Partner in Enhance Ventures, said.

“Paired with Enhance’s venture building playbook, its proprietary collection of venture building tools, and access to top talent, we believe Enhance is uniquely positioned to continue its success.”