Mubasher: VentureSouq (VSQ), a GCC-based venture capital company, has launched the $50 million FinTech Fund I, the first fund focusing on FinTech across the MENA region and Pakistan.

The fund invests in early-stage FinTech and SaaS companies across main subsectors, including payments infrastructure, digital banking, PropTech, InsurTech, and personal financial management, according to a press release on Sunday.

VentureSouq MENA FinTech I is regionally supported by Jada Fund of Funds programme, Saudi Venture Capital Company (SVC), Bahrain’s Al Waha Fund of Funds, UAE’s DisruptAD, ADQ’s venture platform, and Mubadala Investment Company.

In addition, the fund is backed by multinational entities such as OFC, the Middle East investment arm of The Olayan Group.

The fund has invested in startups across MENA and Pakistan, including ‘buy now pay later’ Tabby, Saudi-based B2B marketplace Sary, PropTech platform Huspy, and Egypt-based transportation platform Trella.

VentureSouq General Partner, Suneel Gokhale, said: "In 2020, we started to reflect on what FinTech adoption in the MENA region was going to look like and we dove right in. Based on what we have seen in other emerging markets that we have invested in, we believe it is still early days in terms of the FinTech ecosystem in the MENA region and we are really excited about the overall opportunity set."