The Daily Circuit
👋 Hello from the Middle East!
Today in The Daily Circuit, we’re looking at the IMF’s $8 billion loan package for Egypt, UAE sovereign wealth funds eying psychedelic-assisted therapy, a VC fund focused on Arab startups in Israel and IBM’s new software lab in Riyadh. But first, Dubai peers into what lies ahead.
The two-year-old Dubai Future District Fund held its annual meeting from the Museum of the Future stage, revealing progress on its mission to boost founders’ access to Middle East capital and accelerate tech development. The fund, which is anchored by the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC) and the Dubai Future Foundation (DFF), said on Wednesday it has allocated 20% of its initial Dh1 billion ($270 million) capitalization.
The money has gone to 14 start-ups, three follow-on investments and six funds. Its portfolio leans heavily toward fintech and artificial intelligence ventures and venture capital, with Arbor Ventures, Beco Capital, Global Ventures and Cotu Ventures on the funds side and startups like Mamo, Lune and Nym Card taking investment. In total, DFDF has supported over 25 projects and nearly doubled the total headcount within those ventures.
In a keynote speech, UAE Minister of Economy Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri talked about how the DFDF is aimed at building the country’s competitiveness and hinted at broader ambitions for the young fund, with massive opportunities in other sectors. “The UAE is focused on activating opportunities within the circular economy, clean energy, smart transportation, sustainable aviation, and agricultural technology sectors with the aim of transitioning towards a diversified, knowledge-based,” he said.
📰 Developing Stories
RESCUE PACKAGE
The International Monetary Fund has agreed to increase its current loan package for Egypt to $8 billion after the government in Cairo lifted currency controls, sold state assets and took other steps recommended by the lender to spur its economic recovery. The new loan, announced on Wednesday, is an expansion of the $3 billion, 46-month Extended Fund Facility that the IMF offered Egypt in December 2022. Egypt is also seeking a separate $1.2 billion loan from the IMF’s Resilience and Sustainability Facility which promotes climate transition financing. “The comprehensive policy package seeks to preserve debt sustainability, restore price stability, and reinstate a well-functioning exchange rate system, while continuing to push forward deep structural reforms to promote private sector-led growth and job creation,” the IMF said in a statement.
FAR OUT
Energia Foundation and Tabula Rasa Ventures, two research and investment firms that introduced psychedelics to the Davos crowd in 2022, have been promoting psychedelic-assisted therapy to policymakers, sovereign wealth funds and clinicians in the UAE, according to a statement. “There’s still a lot of important research that needs to be done, but I’m hopeful that these medicines can expand the arsenal of tools we have,” Nahida Nayaz Ahmed, Chief Medical Officer at SEHA Mental Health and Well-Being Services, a unit of the ADQ-backed PureHealth, said. Mubadala is reportedly eyeing investments in biotech companies developing psychedelic medicines.
💲 Sovereign Circuit
Public Investment Fund: Steve Mnuchin’s private equity firm Liberty, which counts the PIF among its backers, will invest $450 million as part of a $1 billion equity deal with the embattled commercial real estate lender New York Community Bancorp. Other investors include Hudson Bay, Reverence and Citadel Global Equities, an equities business of Ken Griffin’s hedge fund. NYCB will add four new directors to its board as part of the deal, including Mnuchin. Peter Rawlinson, CEO of PIF-controlled Lucid Motors, told the Financial Times that the maker of luxury electric vehicles will have to cut costs, raise output and hunt for more investment because it can’t rely only on the “bottomless wealth” of Saudi Arabia.
Mubadala: The Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund and Bpifrance, the French national investment bank, agreed to invest together in Partech Africa II, the largest venture capital fund for African startups.
Building Connections
Takwin Ventures helps Arab tech entrepreneurs in Israel navigate obstacles
Waseem Geraisy, co-founder and CEO of medical device startup Sorlis, worked for 15 years as a business consultant at a variety of small companies before taking steps to acquire the skills and contacts he needed to build an Israeli tech firm, Judith Sudilovsky reports for The Circuit.
Networking Culture: Like other Arab entrepreneurs, Geraisy, 38, recognized the obstacles. Among them, Israel’s bountiful startups largely emerge from a close-knit ecosystem cultivated in the army’s intelligence technology branches. Arab citizens, who make up 21% of the population, are exempt from military service and miss out on the networking culture generated there.
Raising $5 million: Enter Takwin Ventures, a project co-founded by two of Israel’s largest venture capital firms, which tries to fill in the gaps and give Arab companies the support and funding they need. Geraisy, whose company has developed a device for the early detection of bed sores, was accepted to Takwin’s 3D Generation program in 2022 and is now trying to raise $5 million to get it off the ground.
Click here to read the full story.
🗣 Circuit Chatter
🤖 AI Tutor: The UAE Ministry of Education has partnered with Abu Dhabi-based Alef Education to develop an AI tutor that can help elementary school students learn mathematics.
💱 Sam in Singapore: Temasek, the sovereign wealth fund of Singapore, has been in talks about investing in OpenAI with CEO Sam Altman, who also met with funds in the Gulf, the Financial Times reports.
🏭 Gas Talks: Saudi Aramco and ADNOC are in investment talks with U.S. producers of liquified natural gas (LNG) as the Gulf countries seek to diversify from oil, Reuters reports.
🖥️ Tech Legacy: Kuwaiti entrepreneur Mohammed Al Sharekha – a pioneer in Arabic language computing – has passed away.
👂🏾 Listen Up: Abu Dhabi University is working with Swiss company Neubio to locally manufacture cheaper cochlear implants for those with hearing loss in the UAE.
↪↩ Closing Circuit
💻 Saudi Software: IBM plans to invest $200 million to set up a software lab in Riyadh that will focus on product development in the areas of artificial intelligence and data.
💰 New Funds: Andreessen Horowitz is just weeks away from closing on nearly $7 billion in new funds, including one for AI infrastructure and another for AI apps, Axios reports.
📱 Social Network: Hunch, a Dubai-based social networking startup, raised $23 million in a Series A funding round led by Alpha Wave in New York and South Korea’s Hashed Emergent.
🛡️ Hacking Protection: Claroty, an Israeli cybersecurity startup focused on large industrial plants and infrastructure facilities, raised $100 million in a sixth funding round led by Delta-v Capital.
☁️ Cloud Risk: Sweet Security, an Israeli startup that assesses risks to cloud networks, raised $33 million in a Series A funding round led by Evolution Equity Partners, with participation by Munich Re Ventures and Glilot Capital Partners.
🤝 SME Boost: Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank Egypt and Cairo’s Tamweely Microfinance signed a $3.2 million contract to cooperate on financing for small and medium-size enterprises.
🌍 Power Circuit
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Ruler of Dubai, issued a decree on Wednesday, naming Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed, First Deputy Ruler of Dubai; Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed, Second Deputy Ruler of Dubai; and Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed, Chairman of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, as Deputy Chairmen of the emirate’s Executive Council.
Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, witnessed the signing of a preliminary agreement on Tuesday between RAK Digital Assets Oasis and Shenzhen, China-based Tencent to promote tech skills in the emirate.
➿ On the Circuit
Saleh Mohamed Al Geziry, Director General for Tourism in Abu Dhabi and Nouf Mohamed AlBoushlaibi, Executive Director of Strategic Marketing & Communications, met with Dina Ahmad, Vice President NBA of Europe & Middle East Global Partnerships, and Ted Dalton, Executive Vice President of the Boston Celtics, on the second day of travel conference ITB Berlin 2024 in Germany. The group announced the NBA Abu Dhabi Games 2024, sponsored by ADQ, will pit the Boston Celtics against the defending league champs, the Denver Nuggets, in two preseason games in October as well as an international marketing partnership with the Celtics.
UAE astronauts Nora AlMatrooshi and Mohammad AlMulla graduated from a two-year NASA program that qualifies them for future space missions.
Jeff Maggioncalda, CEO of learning platform Coursera, said the Gulf is leading the way in AI adoption, in an interview with The National on the sidelines of LEAP 2024 in Riyadh.
Tiger Woods and PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan will hold voting positions on the newly created board of PGA Tour Enterprises, the non-profit venture formed with the private equity investment from the Strategic Sports Group. The Enterprises division will house the PGA Tour’s commercial businesses and rights, as well as those of the DP World Tour.
Matt White, CEO of the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority in Dubai, said the UAE’s exit from anti-money laundering grey list will “remove brakes” on virtual asset activity, in a podcast with Zawya.
Oko Davaasuren, a director at American early-stage investor Techstars, which runs accelerator programs in the Gulf, spoke to Ian Hathaway earlier this month, a California-based investor and serial entrepreneur, about the role of diversity in innovation in a recorded interview at Hub71 in Abu Dhabi.
🎶 Culture Circuit
🏎️ Track of Dreams: Saudi Arabia released computer-generated images of its planned F1 racing circuit outside of Riyadh in Qiddiya, which will feature a 20-story-high elevated first corner and the world’s biggest roller coaster next door.
🪔 First Crowds: The first Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi, the BAPS Hindu Mandir, reported receiving 65,000 visitors on the first Sunday after its public opening on March 1.
📷 Photo of the day
📅 Circuit Calendar
March 7-9, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: Formula 1 STC Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
March 7-9, Abu Dhabi, UAE: UAE Powerboat Class 3 Championship. Local and international speedboat racing professionals go head to head, organized by the Abu Dhabi Marine Sports Club. Corniche.
March 12, Virtual Webinar: Navigating Opportunities, State of Venture in the Middle East. Hear from leaders from UAE VC fund Global Ventures and MENA VC data platform Magnitt, hosted by Carta.
March 14-15, Cannes, France: Saudi Talks. Saudi Arabia brings more than 20 government and industry figures to discuss the kingdom’s real estate sector at MIPIM, the world’s largest real estate event. Palais des Festivals.
Apr. 16-17, Abu Dhabi, UAE. Green Hydrogen Summit 2024. Bringing together experts, policymakers, and industry leaders to explore opportunities and the industry’s future. Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center.
Apr. 16-18, Abu Dhabi, UAE: World Future Energy Summit 2024. A platform to showcase the solutions to some of the most critical challenges identified at COP28. Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center.
Apr. 16-18, Dubai, UAE. Middle East Energy. Energy leaders gather to debate and shape the future. Dubai World Trade Center.
Apr. 23-25, Dubai, UAE: GISEC Global. A forum for furthering the key discussions that are helping to define cyber resilience and connecting the global cybersecurity community. Dubai World Trade Center.
Apr. 29-May 1, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Future Hospitality Summit. An international gathering hosted in cities around the world bringing together the most influential hospitality investors and developers. Mandarin Oriental Al Faisaliah.
Apr. 29 – May 5, Abu Dhabi, UAE: Abu Dhabi International Book Fair. A key event for the publishing industry in the Middle East and North Africa. Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center.
Apr. 30-May 1, Abu Dhabi, UAE: Mobility Live. A conference and exhibition sponsored by the Abu Dhabi transport regulators, gathering disruptive technology developers in transportation and the public sector. Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center.
Apr. 30-May 1, Abu Dhabi, UAE: Middle East Rail. The leading conference in the region for rail innovation, technology and strategy. Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center.