Local venture capital firm Iliad Partners reached first close on a USD 50 mn fund to invest in early stage startups in the UAE and Saudi Arabia it said in a statement. Iliad Partners Tech Ventures Fund I will focus primarily on pre-series A and series A B2B software startups with an agenda for driving digitization in targeted sectors, including fintech, logistics and proptech. The fund will allocate 10% of its capital to European startups, particularly Greek ones, that are looking to expand into the MENA region.

Its backers: The fund is backed by the Jada Fund of Funds (a subsidiary of Saudi’s Public Investment Fund), the Olayan Family, Masarrah Investment Company, MLM Investments, the Constantakopoulos Family of Greece, among others.

The fund has an initial portfolio of investments including logistics startup OTO and procurement startup Penny Software, both Saudi-based, as well as UAE-based fintech platform Qashio.

About Iliad Partners: Founded in 2017 by Christos Mastoras (LinkedIn) and Omar Al Madhi (LinkedIn), the VC firm focuses on the fintech, logistics, and proptech sectors and boasts a considerable network in the MENA region and in Europe.

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