UAE-based venture capital company Iliad Partners has raised funding from investors including Greek banks to mark the second closing of its $50 million (Dh183.5 million) fund.
The latest round of funding by Iliad Partners Tech Ventures Fund I nearly doubles its assets under management and will help it accelerate its investments in Middle East and North Africa start-ups, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.
The funding round features Greek lenders National Bank of Greece, Eurobank and Piraeus Bank and is their first venture capital investment in the broader Mena region.
“These new partnerships are strategic and meaningful, enabling us to provide our start-ups with a powerful new range of value-adding support, while unlocking new corridors of innovation, capital and talent,” said Christos Mastoras, founder and managing partner of Iliad Partners.
The investment by Greek lenders underscores a “shared commitment to fostering innovation, a common belief in the potential of GCC markets, while also aligning with their broader strategy of expanding into the region, with a particular focus on Saudi Arabia and the UAE”, the company said.
The fund, which announced its first closing in December last year, is backed by regional and global investors including Jada Fund of Funds – a subsidiary of the Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, the Olayan family, Masarrah Investment Company, MLM Investments, the Constantakopoulos family of Greece, and other family offices in the Gulf.
The investment vehicle targets pre-series A and series A stages ventures in the Mena region, with a primary focus on Saudi Arabia and the UAE. It deploys capital in business-to-business start-ups to drive digital transformation in FinTech and property tech as well the logistics sector.
ADGM-based Iliad Partners plans to allocate a portion of the fund to Europe, primarily Greece, to support start-ups expanding into the Mena region, it said.
“This investment reinforces our commitment to fostering innovation and plays a pivotal role in connecting emerging tech ecosystems between the business communities of Greece and the Gulf region,” Konstantinos Vassiliou, deputy chief executive of Eurobank, said.
“We are excited to contribute to the fund’s vision and growth road map, leveraging our expertise to drive meaningful and sustainable cross-regional impact.”
