Web3 Investors in the UAE: an overview
Superteam UAE breaks down the top web3 funds in Dubai and Abu Dhabi: Hub71, Woodstock, Symbolic, Elixir, Cypher, Whitestar, New Tribe, Scalo Technologies, Ghaf and VVF.
As the Web3 industry emerges from the bear market, the UAE stands out as a welcoming destination for crypto investment funds. With its investor-friendly regulations, strategic positioning, and growing tech ecosystem, the country is poised to attract even more funds looking to tap into the potential of blockchain and decentralized technologies. As we move forward, we can anticipate a flourishing landscape of Web3 funds in the region, contributing to the acceleration of innovation, economic growth, and global connectivity.
Web3 Funds Operating in UAE
This is a snapshot view of current funds operating in the region. We will update the list as we learn about new funds.
Hub71 + Digital Assets
At a glance:
Abu Dhabi's prominent global technology ecosystem, Hub71, has introduced a funding initiative amounting to $2 billion. This endeavor, named Hub71+ Digital Assets, was inaugurated on February 15, 2023. This specialized ecosystem is dedicated to nurturing Web3 startups at every stage. Through a variety of initiatives and programs, Hub71+ Digital Assets seeks to empower these startups to expand on a global scale, offering them access to a diverse network of stakeholders and partners.
Hub71 has partnered with First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) and its research and innovation centre, FABRIC, as its anchor partner. Other partners include digital asset exchanges and service providers Binance and MidChains, technology providers Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Mastercard, decentralized and tokenized app platform FoundersDAO, and blockchain platforms Algorand, Polygon, SUI Blockchain, the TON Foundation, and Venom Foundation.
Hub71 has also teamed up with venture capital funds such as Binance Labs’ US$500 million investment fund, Venom Foundation’s US$1 billion venture fund, and Venom Venture Funds which is in partnership with investment manager ICEBERG Capital.
Woodstock
At a glance:
Fund Size - Fund II ~$100M
Thesis - link
Portfolio - link
GPs - Pranav Sharma, Himanshu Yadav
Learn more - link
Founded in 2019, Woodstock Fund is a venture capital firm with deep roots in India and US. The firm invests in early and growth-stage companies in distributed ledger technology, gaming, decentralized finance, NFT and tokenization, web 3.0 protocols, and infrastructure sectors.
The founders of the firm, which has outposts in India, the United Arab Emirates and the US, see a natural bridge between Web3 investment opportunities in Asia and the Middle East and a growing appetite from the US to supply risk capital for such plays. Differing from their first fund that primarily supported early-stage firms and protocols, Woodstock Capital Fund II adopts a growth-equity approach targeted at the middle-market.
This fund aims to invest in the treasuries of blockchain protocols while also acquiring tokens from the open market and third-party sources.
Symbolic Capital
At a glance:
Fund Size - $50M
Portfolio - link
Partners - Sandeep Nailwal, Kenzi Wang
Learn more - link
Symbolic Capital is a venture capital firm built by Polygon founder Sandeep Nailwal and ex-Borderless Capital’s and Cere co-founder Kenzi Wang. Symbolic Capital is a crypto-native fund founded by web3 founders.
The venture capital firm aims to support the best early-stage web3 projects with capital and mentorship. Investors in the fund include crypto protocols, other tier-1 VC firms, leading exchanges, crypto auditing firms, and crypto vendors as well as a selection of family offices and institutions.
Elixir Capital
At a glance:
Research - link
Team - link
Founding Partner - Scott Collen & Smiyet Belrhiti
Learn more - link
Elixir Capital emerges as a notable upcoming fund with a burgeoning presence in the UAE. The fund comprises of a seasoned team of investment veterans hailing from distinguished backgrounds, including previous roles at Outlier Ventures, Visa and Woodstock. Among them, Scott, a founding partner, brings a wealth of experience as a former partner at Outlier Ventures, and also led their Base Camp Accelerator program.
With an optimistic outlook on the team, it would be interesting to see how Elixir Capital positions itself to support exceptional founders in the space.
Cypher Capital
At a glance:
Fund Size - $250M
Cheque Size - $250K-$1M
Portfolio - link
GP - Bijan Alizadeh
Learn more - link
Cypher Capital is a multi-strategy crypto investment firm based in the UAE, investing across a broad spectrum including venture capital, public markets, nodes, mining, etc. Their venture practice focuses on early-stage investments in web3 infrastructure, protocols, and applications.
Whitestar Capital
At a glance:
Portfolio - link
Team - link
Founders/Managing Partners - Eric Martineau-Fortin & Jean-Francois Marcoux
Spanning across global hubs such as New York, London, Paris, Montreal, Toronto, Tokyo, and Singapore, Whitestar Capital casts a wide net of influence. Notably, its registration in DIFC underscores a deliberate footprint in the region.
The Digital Asset Fund by White Star Capital distinctly focuses on investments within crypto networks and blockchain-oriented enterprises, spanning the technological spectrum. Employing a meticulously research-oriented strategy, the team collaborates with founders in various stages, ranging from Seed and Series A to token rounds.
New Tribe Capital
At a glance:
Portfolio - link
Team - link
Partners - Juliet Su & Dhaval Parikh
Established in 2019, New Tribe Capital stands as a Dubai-based venture capital investment firm with a sharp focus on technology, blockchain, business & consumer products, and services sectors. The founding team has over 5 years of active engagement within the crypto landscape and talks about having profound insights into tokenomics, macroeconomics, crypto trends, product-market alignment, and go-to-market strategies.
Scalo Technologies
At a glance:
Fund Size - $100 million
Thesis - link
Portfolio - link
Directors, Co-founders - Abdumalik Mirakhmedov, Rashit Makhat
Founded in 2020, Scalo Technologies aims to benefit from Dubai’s high level of business activity, growing economy, and strong government initiatives to attract entrepreneurs and professionals from across the globe. Scalo Technologies moved from Singapore to Dubai and is committed to supporting innovative and disruptive startups. Scalo Technologies is part of the Scalo Group, which also includes Scalo Properties.
Founded in 2020, Scalo Technologies aims to benefit from Dubai’s high level of business activity, growing economy, and strong government initiatives to attract entrepreneurs and professionals from across the globe. Scalo Technologies moved from Singapore to Dubai and is committed to supporting innovative and disruptive startups. Scalo Technologies is part of the Scalo Group, which also includes Scalo Properties.
Ghaf Capital Partners
At a glance:
GHAF Capital Partners was formed in Q1 of 2021 and is one of the first locally managed blockchain / Web3-only private capital firms based in Dubai.
Venom Ventures Fund (VVF)
At a glance:
Fund Size - $1 billion
GP - Peter Knez
Lean more - link
VVF is a partnership between Venom Foundation, a layer-1 blockchain licensed and regulated by the Abu Dhabi Global Market, and investment manager Iceberg Capital. It is a blockchain-agnostic fund that will invest in pre-seed to Series A rounds for web3 protocols and decentralized applications (dApps) that focus on trends like payments, asset management, DeFi, banking services and GameFi.
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