Global Ventures is a Dubai-based venture capital firm investing primarily in technology companies across emerging markets, with a particular focus on the MENA region, Africa, and South and Southeast Asia. The firm backs founders building category-defining businesses in markets that are often underfollowed by larger Western funds.
Founded in 2018, Global Ventures positions itself as a growth-stage investor, typically entering at Series A and Series B rounds. The firm raises dedicated funds rather than operating on a deal-by-deal basis, which gives portfolio founders ongoing support and follow-on capacity. Total AUM figures have not been publicly disclosed as of the latest available information.
Notable investments
Global Ventures has backed companies across fintech, healthtech, and enterprise software. Its most frequently cited portfolio names include:
- Vezeeta – MENA-focused digital healthcare platform connecting patients with doctors and pharmacies.
- Instabug – Cairo-founded mobile app quality platform used by developers in over 25,000 apps globally.
- Mamo – UAE-based business payments and spend management startup targeting SMEs.
- Tamara – Saudi buy-now-pay-later platform, one of the region's fastest-growing consumer fintech companies.
Public information on specific blockchain or crypto-native portfolio companies tracked under the Global Ventures name in crypto databases is limited. The firm's disclosed investments lean toward fintech infrastructure and payments, categories with clear adjacency to digital assets, but no confirmed crypto-native lead investments are prominently documented in public sources.
Team
Noor Sweid is the Founder and Managing Partner of Global Ventures. She is one of the most prominent figures in MENA venture capital, regularly cited in lists of leading investors across the Gulf region. Her background spans private equity, strategy consulting, and operational roles across the Middle East. Sweid is a frequent speaker at events including World Economic Forum and regional tech summits. Other partners and principals have not been widely profiled in public sources beyond the firm's own communications.
Recent activity
Between 2023 and 2025, Global Ventures maintained an active deal pace in MENA fintech and healthtech. The firm participated in several follow-on rounds for existing portfolio companies and was linked to early-stage deals in Gulf markets where local startup ecosystems have expanded significantly, partly driven by government-backed innovation programs in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. No major fund closes or strategic pivots toward crypto were announced publicly in this period. The firm's official website and Crunchbase profile list current portfolio information.
Global Ventures operates in a regional VC market that has seen strong growth. Dubai and Riyadh have attracted increasing pools of institutional capital, and the firm's geography-first thesis gives it structural advantages in sourcing deals that larger pan-global funds miss. The fintech and payments focus creates natural exposure to digital asset infrastructure over time, even if direct crypto investments remain a small portion of the disclosed portfolio at present.
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