Shorooq, a tech-focused multi-strategy investment firm, launched a $200 million late-stage growth fund aimed at backing technology companies in the Gulf and beyond as they prepare for public listings, seeking to address what it sees as a persistent shortage of pre-IPO capital in the region.
The fund was unveiled at Web Summit Qatar in Doha and will operate under Shorooq’s “Qatalyst Series,” the firm said. It will target companies with proven scale, strong fundamentals and clear pathways to exit, with a particular focus on initial public offerings.
Shorooq said the fund is backed by Qatar Investment Authority alongside other sovereign and institutional investors from the Gulf and Asia. The vehicle is designed to institutionalise late-stage and pre-IPO financing in the region, aiming to make public-market readiness a repeatable outcome rather than a rare, cycle-dependent event.
The launch comes as Gulf markets enter a new technology phase marked by deep pools of sovereign liquidity and a growing cohort of mature private companies. Shorooq said the fund will provide long-duration capital and hands-on support to help regional scale-ups transition into public-market leaders.
“This fund represents a natural evolution of our platform and how we partner with founders across their full growth journey,” said Mahmoud Adi, founding partner of Shorooq. “With our venture capital vehicles, credit strategies and now a dedicated late-stage growth fund, we are uniquely positioned to support companies from early conviction through to public market readiness.”
The fund will invest across sectors where innovation, scale and long-term structural demand intersect, targeting businesses capable of achieving regional and global leadership, Shorooq said.
The launch also strengthens Shorooq’s evolution into a multi-asset investment platform. Founded in 2017, the firm invests across venture capital, credit, private equity and real assets, focusing on technology-enabled businesses across MENA and Asia.
Late-stage capital has emerged as a key bottleneck for technology ecosystems in emerging markets, where companies often scale rapidly at the venture stage but lack patient capital and governance support ahead of listings.
Shorooq’s strategy bets that deeper sovereign backing and a maturing pipeline of scale-ups can help narrow that gap, though outcomes will remain closely tied to IPO market conditions and investor risk appetite.
Business News Asia