Lunara Partners

Lunara Partners Research

Investment Thesis

Lunara Partners is a multi-stage investment platform built for founders "reshaping industries across MENA and beyond." The firm describes its philosophy as "an introspective approach to investing," combining early-conviction seed capital with structured late-stage, pre-liquidity deployment. Rather than picking a single stage lane, Lunara positions itself as a full-lifecycle partner: it wants to back category-defining companies from their earliest innovation phase through to the point where they are approaching a liquidity event, giving it exposure to both venture-style upside and more de-risked, growth-stage positions in the same regional ecosystem.

Stage Focus

Lunara runs a genuinely barbell-shaped stage strategy:

• Early-stage: Pre-seed and seed, where the firm backs founders at "the earliest stages" with capital and hands-on support to validate their vision. Its first disclosed deals (HeyBreez, Cobi) are both pre-seed/seed.
• Late-stage / pre-liquidity: The firm also partners with scaled companies that are approaching an exit, providing "structured late-stage capital deployment" aimed at predictable liquidity rather than pure growth financing.

Check Size

Not publicly disclosed. No check-size ranges, fund size, or AUM figures are published on the firm's website, in press coverage, or on Crunchbase/PitchBook-adjacent sources reviewed. Given the seed round sizes it has led ($2.5M for HeyBreez), its early-stage check size is likely in the low-to-mid six figures to low seven figures, but this is an inference, not a disclosed figure.

Lead Tendency

Lunara led HeyBreez's $2.5M seed round (announced August 2026), with Jabbar Group, DASH Ventures, and a group of founders/strategic angels participating alongside. That, combined with the firm's "Early Conviction" pillar language about being a lead, first-check partner, indicates the firm leads at the early stage when it invests.

Recent Activity

• August 2026: Led HeyBreez's oversubscribed $2.5M seed round, seven months after HeyBreez's $1.3M pre-seed (January 2026). The round coincided with HeyBreez crossing one million voice-AI calls per month.
• Pre-Seed, 2025/2026: Backed Cobi, a Dubai (DIFC)-based decision-intelligence platform for customer-facing enterprises, participating in ecosystem programs including Mastercard Engage, Presight, and Nvidia Inception.

Only two portfolio companies are publicly disclosed on the firm's own site, both very recent (2025-founded), consistent with Lunara being a newer, actively-deploying platform rather than an established multi-fund shop with a long track record.

Portfolio Highlights

• HeyBreez (heybreez.ai) — Amman/Dubai-headquartered enterprise voice AI platform; "the operational layer for enterprise voice AI," handling retries, callbacks, and integrations for voice agents at scale, with a strong focus on Arabic-language automation in banking, healthcare, and customer service. Raised a $2.5M seed led by Lunara in August 2026.
• Cobi (hellocobi.com) — Dubai (DIFC)-based "decision intelligence layer for customer-facing enterprises," combining an AI-native intelligence console with an SDK for in-app experience optimization, targeting MENA financial services and consumer sectors. Raised a pre-seed round with Lunara's backing.

No exits or unicorns have been publicly reported yet, consistent with the firm's young portfolio.

Team

• Said Murad — Co-Founder & Managing Partner. Six years as Senior Partner at Global Ventures, where he helped scale the firm into one of the region's leading VCs. Operator background as COO at Jamalon (led its Series B fundraising), COO at EFS Facilities Services, and CEO of Groupon UAE. Earlier career in strategy consulting at Deloitte, an AVP role in the CEO's office at SHUAA Capital, and private equity experience at Dubai International Capital and Abraaj Capital. MBA from INSEAD; BEng in Materials Science & Engineering from Imperial College London.
• Omar Alkhawaja — Co-Founder & Managing Partner. Also Founder & Managing Partner of AMK Investment Office (a multi-asset family office spanning real estate, public markets, venture capital, and private equity), manager of the Omakase Investment Club, and a strategic advisor/board member to Al Arabia Cinema and Renaissance Cinemas. Previously Executive Chairman of Four Winters (a global ice cream/dessert chain), worked in private banking at Coutts Bank London, and served as Executive Advisor at Global Ventures and Vice Chairman of the Middle East Venture Capital Association (MEVCA). Early-stage investor in Roznama Media (Egypt), a successful exit. BSc in Business Management from King's College London; MSc in Real Estate from Bayes (Cass) Business School.
• Hala Raphael — Founding Partner. Also Managing Partner of Raphael Law Firm, advising family offices, funds, and entrepreneurs on structuring, governance, and cross-border transactions. Spent nearly a decade as COO and Head of Legal (with partner status) at Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP), closing 100+ transactions spanning M&A, joint ventures, restructurings, and fund formations. Co-founded Boonz ME (smart vending retail) and AKY Properties (Bali-based property development); active angel investor across MENA. B.A. in Private Law from Saint-Joseph University of Beirut; admitted to the Beirut Bar Association.
• Moustafa ElChiati — Strategic Partner.
• Nadeem Malik — Operating Partner.
• Mazin Abbas — Senior Associate.

Decision Process

Not explicitly disclosed, but the firm is led by two Managing Partners plus a Founding Partner with legal/governance expertise, suggesting a small partnership-style decision process rather than a large investment committee.

Founder Preferences

Lunara's "About" page is explicit: it wants founders addressing "clear, large, and compelling problems" with scalable solutions, teams with "strong execution capability, market expertise, and talent attraction/retention," evidence of product-market fit and economic resilience, and a credible path to expand across MENA or globally. For its late-stage bucket, it looks for businesses "operating at scale" that value "disciplined growth, thoughtful decision-making, and transparency" — i.e., founders comfortable with a structured, governance-minded investor.

Geographic Focus

Primarily the MENA region, with an explicit "regional strength, global reach" pillar: the firm leverages its MENA network as a base while helping portfolio companies expand internationally. Both disclosed portfolio companies are UAE/Jordan-based with global ambitions.