Bahrain plans $100mln venture capital fund

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MANAMA - A new $100 million venture capital ‘fund of funds’ will be established in Bahrain by next month, Economic Development Board (EDB) chief executive Khalid Al Rumaihi said yesterday.

This fund will invest in various venture capital funds, including those focused on fintech, he said during the opening day of the seventh edition of the GCC Financial Forum.

The government will play a regulatory role, while participating investment firms would find a corporate-led industry.

The EDB chief also said Bahrain’s role in the GCC was “not well understood” and that the kingdom saw itself playing the same role for Saudi Arabia as Hong Kong was to China.

The GCC is a $1.5 trillion market and there are plenty of opportunities for several hubs in the region as intra-GCC trade grows.

Talking about Bahrain’s collaborative approach bringing together government, regulators and the private sector to create an enabling environment for disruption and innovation in fintech, digital technology, he highlighted the significant progress made over the past 12 months, including Amazon Web Services’ decision to launch its first Middle East Region in Bahrain, the CBB’s establishment of a regulatory sandbox and crowdfunding regulations.

Mr Al Rumaihi explained how this underpins the growing momentum behind Bahrain’s fintech ecosystem with the launch of Bahrain FinTech Bay today, a new facility designed to be the largest of its type in the Mena region.

The conference is organised by Euromoney Conferences and co-hosted with the EDB.