Enhance Ventures launches $30m fund to invest in FinTech and commerce in Middle East

Enhance Ventures, a regional venture studio, has launched a $30 million Builders Fund to invest in new initiatives in the areas of finance technology and commerce in the Middle East.

Through the fund, the company plans to “create 5,000 high-tech jobs, produce 500 business leaders, train 50 capable founders and be the institutional co-founder to at least five major exits in the region” in the next five to 10 years, it said in a statement on Thursday.

“As a venture studio, we support founders materially in the early stages of venture development, when they need help the most. This dramatically increases the success rate for start-ups,” said Mohammad Al Hokail, partner at Enhance Ventures.

Venture studios build start-ups, starting from idea conceptualisation to launch, while also providing capital and guidance. They also support their growth using internal capabilities and external support.

Currently, there are more than 730 active venture studios in the world, with 50 per cent of them launched in the past five years, the Dubai International Financial Centre reported.

Launched in 2016, Enhance has dual headquarters in Dubai and Riyadh. The company, which focuses on building digital businesses in the Middle East, North Africa, Pakistan and Turkey, also has a technology centre in Istanbul and satellite offices in Cairo, Amman and Beirut.

“Trends such as Web3, open banking, the move to a cashless society, the need for frictionless consumer and SME finance and the growth of B2B commerce have created new opportunities,” said Ritesh Tilani, partner at Enhance Ventures.

Acting as an institutional co-founder, Enhance Ventures offers entrepreneurs support through its venture-building methodology, venture architects, technology development, marketing support, human resources, funding and office space, among others, added Alper Celen, partner in the company.

Enhance’s first venture, Joi Gifts, is one of the region’s largest online gifting marketplaces. It spun off from the studio 10 months ago after it raised funding from investors such as Knuru Capital and Panthera Capital.

Other portfolio companies include Right Farm, a business-to-business agriculture technology firm; Clevr, a platform that provides small and medium-sized enterprises with sales and marketing tools; and Blue Terra, a marketplace that delivers eco-friendly and organic products.

Last year, the company also launched Enhance Innovation to support corporations and government organisations with their studio strategy and in building individual ventures and studios of their own.

The new unit has collaborated with players such as DIFC and ADQ, one of the region’s biggest holding companies.

Scoreline

Australia 2-1 Thailand

Australia: Juric 69', Leckie 86'
Thailand: Pokklaw 82'

The specs

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SPECS

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The more serious side of specialty coffee

While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.

The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.

Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”

One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.

Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.

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Starring: Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany

Directed by: Matt Shakman

Rating: Four stars

ANALYSTS’ TOP PICKS OF SAUDI BANKS IN 2019

Analyst: Aqib Mehboob of Saudi Fransi Capital

Top pick: National Commercial Bank

Reason: It will be at the forefront of project financing for government-led projects

Analyst: Shabbir Malik of EFG-Hermes

Top pick: Al Rajhi Bank

Reason: Defensive balance sheet, well positioned in retail segment and positively geared for rising rates

Analyst: Chiradeep Ghosh of Sico Bank

Top pick: Arab National Bank

Reason: Attractive valuation and good growth potential in terms of both balance sheet and dividends

Ads on social media can 'normalise' drugs

A UK report on youth social media habits commissioned by advocacy group Volteface found a quarter of young people were exposed to illegal drug dealers on social media.

The poll of 2,006 people aged 16-24 assessed their exposure to drug dealers online in a nationally representative survey.

Of those admitting to seeing drugs for sale online, 56 per cent saw them advertised on Snapchat, 55 per cent on Instagram and 47 per cent on Facebook.

Cannabis was the drug most pushed by online dealers, with 63 per cent of survey respondents claiming to have seen adverts on social media for the drug, followed by cocaine (26 per cent) and MDMA/ecstasy, with 24 per cent of people.