Sawari Ventures Launches Fundraising For SV-I, a $50M Egypt and North Africa Venture Capital Fund Focused on Growth Stage Companies

Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt - 15^th March, 2015

Sawari Ventures, a leading Egyptian venture capital firm, today announced at the Egyptian Economic Development Conference "Egypt the Future", the opening of Sawari Ventures -I (SVI), a $50M venture capital fund focused on growth stage knowledge-driven companies in Egypt and North Africa.

Sawari Ventures and its accelerator Flat6Labs have invested in over 80 companies and more than 150 entrepreneurs across Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. In this short period, the portfolio companies have won countless global awards, generated hundreds of jobs, filed dozens of USPTO patents and raised several rounds of follow-on investments from marquee global investors.

"We will seek out high performing entrepreneurs whom we know and trust. We will focus on growth-stage companies in high growth markets in which we have expertise and influence including ICT, hardware and the application of technology to financial services, education and health," said Wael Amin, partner at Sawari ventures. "We will invest in entrepreneur-led, knowledge-based companies that see opportunities where others see challenges," he added.

The SV-I will make 12 to 15 investments over its four year investment period in high performing entrepreneurs creating market leading companies. In addition, Sawari Ventures plans to use up to 15% of the fund to seed its high-tech accelerator, Flat6Labs in Cairo, Tunis and Casablanca. "It is through Flat6Labs that we see thousands of ideas every year, meet countless entrepreneurs, and develop deep and lasting relationships with academic institutions, angel investors as well as government and corporate partners," said Hany Al-Sonbaty, Sawari Ventures' Co-founder and Managing Partner.

Sawari Ventures has officially launched the fund today to receive expression of interest, plans to have a first closing before end of 2015, and will announce its first investment by early 2016. "There could not have been a better venue than the Egypt the Future Conference to launch this fund. The conference and the international reception it has received signal the return of investor confidence in Egypt," said Ahmed El Alfi, Sawari Ventures' founder and Chairman.

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About Sawari Ventures
Sawari Ventures is a Cairo-based venture capital firm that invests in people turning visionary ideas into market-leading companies in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The Sawari Ventures team brings together a unique combination of experience and expertise with track records in technology, operations, startups and investment spanning the Middle East, Europe, and North America. This includes US, MENA and EU-based venture capital experience, executive management, NGO's and startups, as well as diverse expertise across the technology and financial services industries. Our goal is simple: We want to identify, serve, and provide capital for extraordinary entrepreneurs who are changing Egypt and the MENA region.

© Press Release 2015