Silicon Valley-based seed fund and startup accelerator 500 Startups announced last week a new $30 million fund in the Middle East and North Africa called 500 Falcons.
500 Falcons will invest in the brightest stars on the horizon of MENA's startup scene, focusing on seed stage investments between $50,000-$100,000 with the goal of investing in 100-200 companies.
Led by 500 Startups Venture Partner and investment banker Hasan Haider, the regional microfund will focus on tech startups in the areas of e-commerce and marketplaces, video and Arabic content, software services, mobile, financial technology and hardware.
In addition, follow-on investments of up to $500,000 will be available for the top 20-30 percent of the companies. The investors will also potentially provide them with additional capital from its global fund for specific deals, as well as co-invest and syndicate deals with existing funds and other startup accelerators in the region.
The fund, named after falcons due to their cultural significance in the Arab World, was created to support Startups' goal to build a functional and sustainable funding ecosystem in the MENA region that can benefit from its human potential and vast opportunities for economic development.
"Most economies in the MENA region are dominated by the government and large companies, and in the face of a demographic shift, we see an opportunity for this to change," Haider wrote on the 500 Startups blog .
"Startups will lead the transition in economic development for most countries, to go from rentier states to more diversified, self-sustainable economies."
To further support this mission, Startups also aims to bring the minds of Silicon Valley to the Middle East. The company is organizing the Geeks on a Plane MENA tour from Dec. 5-15, which will visit the UAE, Egypt, Bahrain and Jordan to mentor startups, visit incubator programs and plan investments.
Moreover, Startups is hosting its PreMoney Conference, which discusses the strategies, business models and technologies for the future of venture capital, for the first time in the MENA region in Bahrain on Dec. 6.
"At 500, we want to bring all players and stakeholders together to develop a robust ecosystem in the MENA region. We believe in this region and are in this for the long run."
500 Startups is known for its region-focused funds around the world, it has set up microfunds in Southeast Asia, Latin America and the Nordic countries. Its previous work in the MENA region includes its investments in tech startups such as Wuzzuf, Edfa3ly, and Shopgo .