The Scoop
Venture capital firm 500 Global will pour as much as $300 million into startups addressing urgent challenges in emerging markets over the next two years from a new office in Abu Dhabi.
Former Gates Foundation executive Dr. Alaa Murabit has been tapped to lead the firm’s new Sustainable Growth practice, with the aim of increasing co-investments with sovereign wealth funds, philanthropic organizations, and governments, according to a statement seen by Semafor.
Investment targets will largely be in Africa, Brazil, the Gulf, and India, and aim to tackle issues like climate adaptation, food and health systems, fertility, digital infrastructure, and gender equity. Murabit’s remit will include investment structuring and policy advisory to translate national priorities — like those seen in Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, for example — into investments.
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Bringing on Murabit, who co-wrote the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and most recently led the Gates Foundation’s portfolios covering maternal and child health, climate and health security, and innovation, is “in line with Abu Dhabi’s increased focus on sustainable investment in strategic emerging markets,” Courtney Powell, chief operating officer and managing partner at 500 Global, told Semafor.
500 Global has been investing in the Middle East and North Africa since 2012, including in Dubai startup Eyewa, and Riyadh’s Floward and Foodics. In January it rolled out 500 MENA, a region-specific fund backed by two Public Investment Fund units and Saudi Venture Capital to deploy up to $10 million per investment in technology startups in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
The expansion of 500 Global, which has $2.3 billion in assets under management, into Abu Dhabi also comes at a time of relative optimism for venture capital investing in the Gulf.
The first half of this year has already surpassed the total of funds raised for the full year 2024, driven by pre-tariff positivity, easing inflation, and high liquidity, according to UAE investment tracker Magnitt, which added that regional tensions and uncertainty over tariffs may affect how the rest of the year unfolds.
Notable
- London private credit firm Gemcorp Capital is targeting a $1 billion Africa fund from its Abu Dhabi outpost, Semafor reported.
- How the UAE is wielding its wealth in Africa to become the top foreign donor on the continent is the subject of a feature in The New York Times.