Globally, venture capital deal value inched upward last year, and in the Middle East we witnessed a dynamic shift with deal activity surging to an overall value of USD 1.5 billion. SC Ventures had a strong year: we expanded from 2 to 7 ventures across the Middle East, created over 150 jobs, closed more than 20 strategic deals, and garnered significant media attention with 20x surge in coverage including 31 top-tier placements. Hear Alex Manson’s interview with CNN Arabic on our plans in the Middle East.
We’re also seeing growing interest to co-create innovative business models. Additionally, there’s rising interest from family offices in alternative, regulated asset classes such as FinTech, which aligns well with our vision and the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) nation-building efforts.
We participated in Abu Dhabi Finance Week, hosted a client event at Hub71, and signed two MoUs with prominent players to co-create an SME-led venture in the region.
At SC Ventures we continue creating sustainable businesses and realistic valuations backed by profitability as highlighted by Mohamed Fairooz, Middle East Lead, in his interview with Al Bayan. We remain laser-focused on key investment themes: empowering SMEs through our SME-led venture Project Hal; driving financial inclusion and financial literacy via myZoi’s digital wallet for the underbanked in the UAE and Furaha which enables instant school fee loans in Uganda; capitalizing on digital assets through our $100 million Global Digital Asset Holdings; and supporting the digital economy through Appro, our venture that streamlines onboarding journey.
Our Global Digital Assets Holding has made three strategic investments into Twinstake, HiddenRoad and WalletConnect, underscoring our commitment to supporting blockchain innovation and secure digital assets solutions, while unlocking the future of finance.
Our portfolio companies continue hitting major milestones: myZoi won “Best Financial Inclusion Initiative” from MEA Finance, Furaha was shortlisted as “Best Mobile Innovation” by the Mobile World Conference, while Vault22 earned “Financial Solutions App of the Year” award in South Africa.
We invite you to explore our latest announcements in UAE, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and wider Middle East region and thank you for your continued support as we build a more inclusive and innovative future, aligned with the UAE’s and region’s nation-building agendas.
Gautam Jain, SC Ventures
- Project Hal, our soon to be launched B2B e-commerce platform, has secured an MoU with 7X to build a homegrown SME-led venture, enabling SMEs to thrive, thus supporting the UAE’s and regional economic growth.
- Project Hal has also partnered with Lulu Financial to co-create a transformative startup across UAE and the wider Middle East region, leveraging SC Ventures’ global expertise and experience building scalable ventures and Lulu Financial’s regional financial expertise and deep network.
- Appro, our UAE home-grown venture that simplifies the retail banking user journey, as well as Furaha, our venture enabling instant school fee loans, were invited to network with investors at UAE Ministry of Economy’s Investopia event, along with other businesses that are shaping the UAE’s future.
- Vault22, our wealth advisory venture introducing wealth as a process and not a privilege, has launched South Africa’s first Financial Fitness Score and won the “Financial Solutions App of the Year” award by FNB. Watch this video to hear how Vault22 aims to transform financial wellness across Africa!
- audax, our digital banking tech solution provider, has partnered with Tuum during Abu Dhabi Finance Week to accelerate digital transformation for financial institutions through holistic digital banking solutions. Also, hear Mike Breen’s interview on the region’s forward-looking and promising fintech landscape, with Finance Middle East.
- myZoi, our fintech enabling financial literacy and inclusion, has helped over 150+ corporate clients, 23,000 employees and achieved 62% repeat usage — demonstrating users’ loyalty and trust. Look at impact in numbers here and hear an interview with CEO Syed Muhammad Ali on myZoi’s journey so far.
- Furaha, the first purpose-led loan platform in Uganda enabling school fee loans for parents, secured $10 million in funding from Yabx and SC Ventures, and collaborated with Opportunity Bank, PegPay and School Pay to make lending more accessible and seamless for parents. See the latest announcements here.
- Zodia Custody, our digital assets custodian, partnered with Emirates NBD to power their digital assets custody business in the UAE. This reinforces Zodia Custody’s commitment to bridge the gap and support the Dubai Economic Agenda. Zodia custody also won “Best Digital Asset Custodian” at the Asset Servicing Times Industry Excellence award.
- Zodia Markets, our institutional-grade digital assets trading venture, along with Gewan Holding and Metalpha Limited, has launched ZMG7 LLC, a groundbreaking partnership in Abu Dhabi, set to redefine the global digital asset landscape. This venture is strengthening the UAE’s role as a leader in finance and innovation. Read more here.
