DUBAI - Abu Dhabi state investor Mubadala Investment Co plans to identify potential fund partners in Israel and find high-growth companies to co-invest in, the head of its ventures unit said on Wednesday.

"There will be interesting opportunities with joint funds or joint ventures, but we are still early on in evaluating this," Ibrahim Ajami told a financial technology conference in Abu Dhabi.

He said Mubadala has co-invested with Israeli investors in the United States and Europe, but closer ties between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel opens up a significant opportunity for investments.

After the UAE and Israel agreed to normalise relations in August, the two countries have signed a host of accords to boost economic and business ties.

"We are always excited about Silicon Valley. But we are also looking at Europe, we're looking at the Middle East, we're looking at India and we would like to be very active in China," Ajami said.

Mubadala earlier this year bought 1.85% stake in Reliance Industries' digital unit, Jio Platforms, for $1.2 billion.  

"This COVID situation has demonstrated and has proven that innovation can happen from anywhere."

Mubadala, which manages over $230 billion in assets, is the UAE's second-biggest state investor after Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, which is estimated to have nearly $700 billion in assets.

(Reporting by Saeed Azhar, editing by Louise Heavens) ((Saeed.Azhar@thomsonreuters.com; +971 44536787; Reuters Messaging: saeed.azhar.reuters.com@reuters.net))