COTU Ventures launches $54M fund for pre-seed and seed startups in MENA

Dubai-based early-stage venture capital firm COTU Ventures is announcing that it has raised $54 million for its inaugural fund to support startups in the Middle East from pre-seed to seed stages.

With a final close achieved last year, COTU Ventures, which identifies and backs founders from the inception to post-product launch, invests between $500,000 and $2 million while reserving capital for follow-on investments.

Over the past two and a half years, COTU Ventures has actively deployed capital into startups across the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council), focusing primarily on the UAE and Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Pakistan. The firm has already backed over 20 early-stage startups across various sectors, as outlined in its statement.

Founder and general partner Amir Farha revealed in an interview with TechCrunch that COTU Ventures is inclined slightly toward fintech and B2B software. However, the firm is open to opportunities across other sectors. Noteworthy investments by COTU Ventures include Huspy, a UAE mortgage platform backed by Peak XV and Founders Fund, and Egyptian fintech startup MoneyHash.

“The consumer wave happened with Careem and some other applications. Today, businesses are lagging a bit behind, so there’s a huge opportunity to build software to help solve many of their problems. We are also interested in high-margin industries where technology can play a massive role and capitalize on margin efficiencies,” said Farha on the opportunities COTU is keen on.