VC React Podcast (Episode #15)

In this week's episode, we kicked off with an in-depth discussion on the best strategies for deploying a large seed fund in the MENA region, particularly in light of SVC's recent $15 million investment into Vision Ventures' Saqr Fund II, which is targeting $90 million to support early-stage startups from pre-seed to pre-Series B. We also explored what's currently missing in the MENA ecosystem and how regional developmental funds of funds can help fill these gaps.

Next, we covered Ejari’s $14.65 million seed round, a mix of debt and equity led by Partners for Growth (PFG) and BECO Capital, backing their "rent now, pay later" solution for the Saudi market. We also touched on the rise of buy now, pay later (BNPL) solutions across different industries in the region and the broader impact of these new debt products.

And last but not least, we discussed OCTA, a fintech platform automating payment collection for SMEs, and its recent $2.25 million pre-seed round, with first-hand insights from Asher Siddiqui, who led Sukna Ventures' participation in the deal.

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This week Ahmad and I had the pleasure to be joined by:

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Asher Siddiqui (General Partner Sukna Ventures)

Faris AlRashed Alhumaid (CEO Sharaka Financial)

‍Tamer Al-Salah (Managing Director Beyond Capital)

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We covered:

📌 SVC Invests $15M in a $90M Seed VC Fund by Vision Ventures (VV)

📌 Ejari | ايجاري raises $14.65 million in debt-equity Seed round

📌 UAE’s OCTA raises $2.25 million pre-Seed

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