Dubai has doubled Oraseya Capital’s venture fund to AED1 billion and expanded its mandate beyond Series B. The move points to a bigger shift in the emirate’s startup strategy: building companies is no longer enough if they cannot stay, scale and raise larger rounds from Dubai. 

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The UAE startup culture is undergoing a major shift. Having seed money is no longer the only mandate; companies should be able to stay, scale, and continue to get funded. In an effort to include companies that have crossed the experimentation stage, Dubai Integrated Economic Zones Authority has doubled the size of Oraseya Capital’s venture capital fund from AED 500 million to AED 1 billion. This significantly expands the amount of capital available to startups and growth-stage companies operating from the emirate.  

What Oraseya can do with the fund is much more interesting. The investment arm of DIEZ is increasing its maximum investment per company from $3 million to $6 million, widening its mandate to include companies beyond Series B and extending its reach to international companies considered strategically relevant to the UAE. WAM

Early-stage capital has expanded across the region over the past several years, but companies entering larger Series B, Series C and later rounds frequently need to tap international investors with deeper pools of capital. Oraseya’s expansion appears designed partly to close that gap.  

By doubling its investment ceiling to $6 million and extending funding beyond Series B, it can now participate in larger rounds and continue supporting companies after they have moved beyond the experimentation stage. WAM link 

Oraseya Capital was launched in November 2023 and has built a portfolio of 66 active companies, averaging 25 investments a year. It has also run eight cohorts of its SANDBOX programme, which provides selected startups with $150,000 in investment, alongside its six-month LAUNCHPAD programme for entrepreneurs.  

The new fund is an additional layer: instead of getting startups into the ecosystem then having them seek international investors, Oraseya now has more capacity to continue backing the strong performers.  

Previously, Oraseya focused only on companies that were directly connected to the UAE. Now its new mandate will allow it to invest in international companies that have strategic relevance to the country. This expansion will attract various global technology companies. The company no longer needs to originate in Dubai, if it establishes operations, builds teams, develops intellectual property or uses emirate as a regional base, the economic impact can still be significant. Dubai wants to be the place where international technologies choose to expand.

Oraseya’s expanded strategy will place particular emphasis on artificial intelligence, fintech and digital assets, healthcare and longevity, alongside sectors already represented across its portfolio such as proptech, digital commerce, marketing technology, sustainability and edtech. WAM These are areas where the UAE is already investing heavily at infrastructure and policy levels.  

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