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Shorooq Partners’ USD 100 mn venture debt fund is eyeing fast-growing startups in Saudi and the UAE, Founding Partner Mahmoud Adi told Asharq Business (watch, runtime, 6:31).
The targets: Fast-growing, profitable tech firms. It already has two fintech startups in its investment pipeline, Adi said. The fund, named Nahda II, follows Shorooq’s first venture debt fund, which launched in 2021.
The local angle: Nahda I provided USD 50 mn in mezzanine finance to homegrown BNPL platform Tamara in November 2023. The Shorooq fund was joined at the time by Goldman Sachs, which arranged USD 200 mn in senior debt for Tamara.
SOUNT SMART- What’s venture debt? Firms offering venture debt are effectively competing with banks. Why work with one, then? Venture debt providers have — by definition — higher risk appetite. They may charge more, but they’re also a lot more likely to understand and extend finance to a startup than many traditional lenders.
