News

COTU Ventures Launches $54M MENA Startup Investment Fund

The industry-agnostic fund focuses on supporting founders from the inception of their idea through to post-product launch.

Published

3 years ago

February 28, 2024

Nour Nasir

COTU Ventures

COTU Ventures, which stands for Champions of the Underdog, has announced that it has raised $54 million to invest in what it calls “extraordinary founders” in the MENA region.

In a philosophy that explains the firm’s unique name, COTU will help startups at the earliest stages of their journeys, investing at the pre-seed and seed stages, where founders often have difficulty attracting attention from backers.

“I’ve been a part of the regional ecosystem since 2008, and it’s come a long way since then,” explained Amir Farha, founder and GP of COTU Ventures. “Saudi Arabia has opened up internationally, and governments have been driving policies and investment to activate the technology sectors of their local economies. We have a growing young population of tech-savvy, digitally connected consumers with substantial spending power. When you combine this with remarkably low customer acquisition costs and some of the highest revenues per user, there has never been a better and more profitable time to invest in the region than today”.

The fund from COTU is industry-agnostic and instead focuses on identifying and supporting the most talented founders from inception to post-launch. So far, the firm has invested in over 20 early-stage startups, including mortgage platform Huspy, UAE-based ResTech company Supy, and Sirdab, a leading Saudi storage and warehouse management platform.

Also Read: The Cloud Secures $12M For GCC And European Expansion

“Our partnership with COTU Ventures has been a cornerstone of Sirdab’s journey,” enthused Naif Alzahri, the startup’s founder. “Amir and the entire COTU team have contributed a wide array of expertise that has significantly enhanced our strategic, technical, and operational frameworks. Their unique approach to collaboration is rare to find [and the] foundation of trust and mutual understanding not only highlights the extraordinary nature of our relationship with COTU but also makes us eternally grateful for their support”.

COTU’s distinctive approach is rooted in the conviction that an individual’s early years serve as a barometer for their potential success as an entrepreneur. The firm believes there is a profound impact from decisions made during a startup’s infancy, and to that end equips founders with valuable resources, perspectives, and connections to better navigate their entrepreneurial journeys.

News

Microsoft Plans $10 Billion-Plus Gulf Expansion Despite Iran Conflict

Security is shaping Microsoft’s approach, from resilience work with governments to what it will say about how the money splits by country.

Published

4 days ago

September 24, 2026

Nour Nasir

Microsoft

Microsoft is planning more than $10 billion of investment across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait through 2030, Vice Chair and President Brad Smith told Reuters, calling the spending schedule aggressive. The Iranian conflict that began on February 28 has not persuaded the company to scale back.

“We’re sustaining all the investments we planned to make before this conflict started, and we are in fact adding to them,” Smith said. The $10 billion-plus total does not, however, show how large those additions are.

The investment, which Smith described as part of Microsoft’s continued infrastructure expansion, is aimed at cloud and AI infrastructure and at the company’s growing regional operations. Microsoft also intends to put more than $400 million into subsea and terrestrial connectivity across the Middle East by 2030.

The spending fits the region’s own ambitions too. Gulf governments have been investing heavily in AI infrastructure as part of a push to diversify their economies beyond oil and gas and turn themselves into global technology hubs. Major cloud and AI providers have been drawn in part by the land and relatively low-cost energy on offer.

Microsoft is widening its partnerships with regional AI companies, though not on identical terms. In 2024, it invested $1.5 billion in Abu Dhabi-based G42 for a minority stake, and Smith currently sits on G42’s board. Saudi Arabia’s Humain and Qatar’s Qai are working with Microsoft on selected priority areas, but Smith said the company does not plan to make capital investments in either.

Also Read: Egypt’s Mobile Wallets Are Booming, But Cash Still Has Power

The conflict has added another strand to Microsoft’s work in the region. Since it began, Smith said, the company has supported regional partners with digital resilience assessments, and it is now working with Gulf countries through a digital resilience initiative focused on preparedness and the protection of critical data.

So far, the company has given no country-by-country breakdown of the investment, citing security among other factors. So while the headline figure is public, how Microsoft divides the spending among the four countries is not.