$100 million fillip to startups

Manama : Bahrain Development Bank (BDB) launched a $100 million Venture Capital Fund of Funds yesterday, aimed at boosting the startup ecosystem in Bahrain and the Middle East. The fund was launched at the Gateway Gulf Forum held under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and Chairman of the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB). It was also announced during the forum that the Al Waha Fund of Funds will invest in venture capital funds that have a presence in Bahrain – providing additional capital to supporting startups in Bahrain and across Gulf.

Commenting on the launch, Khalid Al Rumaihi, Chairman, Economic Development Board said: “We know that access to capital is one of the biggest constraints on growth for startups, so this fund will help businesses in Bahrain and across the Middle East to get access to the capital they need to expand.

“Venture capital investment in the MENA region is a fraction of the level in markets like the USA and China – this means there are entrepreneurs with great ideas that are not realising their potential because they cannot access the funding required, he said. “We are delighted to be able to utilize the strengths of Bahrain as a regional financial centre and its growing startup ecosystem to support the growth of a new wave of innovative businesses across the region.” As well as providing additional capital to regional startups, the fund is expected to help attract additional venture capital funds.

Bahrain’s ecosystem has benefitted from a number of major economic reforms in recent years, including a reduction in the minimum capital required for starting a business, measures to enable onshore crowdfunding in conventional and shari’a-compliant finance and the introduction of a regulatory sandbox for fintech. These advances were reflected in the recent Global Startup Ecosystem Report, released by the Global Entrepreneurship Network and Startup Genome, which included Bahrain in global ‘ecosystems to watch’ in both fintech and gaming. Bahrain was the only Arab country to be included in either list.