Recently formed Nuwa Capital aims to redefine the relationship between founders and capital by providing a progressive founder-centric approach to investing in emerging markets.
Nuwa Capital, the latest investment platform in the region, was launched today at STEP 2020 by Managing Partner Khaled Talhouni. Taking the stage at STEP, Khaled explained to an eager audience how Nuwa Capital has built its model to deliver a founder-led, value creation approach to investment. After years of work in the ecosystem and inspired by the lack of adequate and strategic support, the team aims to innovate in the VC sector. Nuwa places seasoned entrepreneurs and operational partners at the core of its platform, the fund offers its network the ability to act as a true extension of the team, dedicated to delivering value to Nuwa Capital portfolio companies.
“We want to democratize access to the region’s greatest founders through our network.”
Khaled Talhouni, MP, Nuwa Capital
“The ambition of the team at Nuwa Capital is to rewrite the book on how we think about Venture Capital in emerging markets by supporting companies through an extensive network of accomplished founders and subject matter experts that will drive the scalability of these businesses” Talhouni said.
Saudi-based conglomerate Al Faisaliah Group is joining Nuwa Capital as a strategic partner and anchor investor. The financial and strategic partnership between Al Faisaliah Group and the Nuwa Capital team brings together a network across the GCC and the wider region, providing Nuwa portfolio companies unparalleled access to key markets and expertise. The fund will be led by Khaled Talhouni, who was the previous Managing Partner at Wamda Capital, and participated in key regional investments including Careem, Littlebits, Mumzworld, Luxury Closet, BitOasis, Arabiaweather, Jamalon and Kharabeesh.
The fund will target final commitments of up to $100m with focus on backing entrepreneurs driving transformational change in the Direct To Consumer (DTC), fintech, mobility and logistics and enterprise segments. It will target emerging markets, primarily covering the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) including KSA and UAE, East Africa, Pakistan and Turkey.
Together the Nuwa team have previously invested in over 500 companies, created over $6 billion in value and have been part of the 4 largest exits in the MENA region; Souq, Careem, Namshi and Maktoob.
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