Abu Dhabi group takes stake in US venture fund

DUBAI / AGENCIES

500 Startups, a Silicon Valley venture fund with a track record of investing in young companies, said on Tuesday Abu Dhabi Financial Group (ADFG) had acquired a strategic stake in the firm. Through this investment, ADFG will hold a strategic stake and will be injecting substantial capital to accelerate the growth of 500’s key initiatives, expand into new markets, and anchor future global funds.
The move by ADFG comes as Gulf sovereign wealth funds and corporates look to invest in firms on the US West Coast involved in venture capital, artificial intelligence and robotics.
The statement did not disclose the value of the deal or the size of the stake. 500 Startups, which invests in young fast-growing companies around the world and offers an accelerator programme for entrepreneurs, manages in excess of $400 million in committed capital and has backed more than 2,000 firms including Twilio, SendGrid and Grab, a southeast Asian ride-hailing firm.
Jassim Alseddiqi, CEO of ADFG, said: “For ADFG, this is a groundbreaking investment because 500’s global footprint and reach is incomparable. More than just a VC firm, 500 gains access to deals in global markets that many traditional VCs do not. This investment will complement ADFG’s existing technology initiatives. We are thrilled to be investing in 500 and look forward to supporting their continued growth and expansion.” “The dealflow that 500 gets is also a great dealflow that we can syner-gise together,” he said on a call with Reuters.
“They source those deals, they analyse those deals, and they are investors in those deals.” ADFG’s investment follows interactions with 500 Startups as a limited partner over several years, according to the statement.
The funds are expected to “accelerate the growth of 500’s key initiatives, expand into new markets, and anchor future global funds,” the statement said. Chief Executive Dr Saleh Al Hashemi of Algorythma, the technology arm of ADFG, will join 500’s board of officers, the statement said.
Since taking over as CEO of 500, Founding Partner Christine Tsai has refocussed the team and reaffirmed the firm’s vision and strategy.
With ADFG’s investment and strategic relationship as a key part of that strategy, Tsai looks forward to aggressively pursuing 500’s mission of discovering and backing the world’s most talented entrepreneurs, helping them create successful companies at scale, and building thriving global ecosystems. Since it was founded in 2011 in Abu Dhabi, ADFG has established itself as a leading global investment firm with more than $6 billion in assets under management.