Manara Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
Manara Ventures is a $70.5M (JOD 50 million) growth-stage venture fund launched in May 2026 by the Jordan Capital and Investment Fund (JCIF) to close a specific, named gap in Jordan's startup ecosystem: Jordanian founders building category-defining companies without a dedicated, credible growth-stage fund behind them. The firm's public messaging is explicit that it exists to back founders with Jordanian roots "build anywhere" — the fund is not geographically restrictive on where the company is headquartered or incorporated, only on the founder's origin and connection to Jordan. The stated goal is to help these companies "scale regionally and globally" while catalyzing technological advancement and knowledge transfer back into Jordan's domestic startup ecosystem, including an explicit employment and knowledge-transfer impact mandate tied to the fund's LP base.
Stage Focus
Manara Ventures is a post-revenue, growth-stage fund. It does not invest at pre-seed, seed, or early Series A; the fund is positioned to come in once a company already has revenue and is looking to scale regionally or globally. Press coverage describes the target as "growth-stage Jordanian technology and innovation-driven startups," distinguishing Manara from Jordan's earlier-stage ecosystem players (e.g., Oasis500, where CEO Luma Fawaz previously led over 180 early-stage investments).
Check Size
Reported check sizes range from $350K (per the firm's own site copy) up to $750K-$3M per investment according to press coverage of the fund's launch, inclusive of follow-on capacity. The fund plans to back more than 20 growth-stage Jordanian companies from its initial $70.5M pool, while reserving additional capital to support up to 15 high-performing portfolio companies pursuing regional expansion — implying meaningful follow-on reserves architected into the fund's initial construction.
Lead Tendency
Unknown. As a newly launched fund with no disclosed investments as of August 2026, there is no track record yet to assess whether Manara leads, co-leads, or follows rounds. The firm's marketing emphasizes "founder-speed decisions" and explicitly rejects "six-month deliberation," suggesting an operating model built for fast, decisive term-sheet issuance — consistent with, but not proof of, a lead-investor posture.
Recent Activity
Manara Ventures launched publicly in May 2026. As of this research (August 2026), no portfolio investments have been publicly announced. The fund is very early in its deployment cycle (roughly three months post-launch) and has stated intentions rather than a demonstrated track record. This should be treated as a newly formed, pre-portfolio growth fund rather than an active investor with comparable deal history.
Portfolio Highlights
None disclosed. Manara Ventures has not announced any investments since its May 2026 launch. No portfolio companies, exits, or case studies are publicly available at this time.
Team
- Luma Fawaz — CEO / Managing Director. Previously CEO of Oasis500, Jordan's flagship early-stage startup accelerator, where she oversaw more than 180 early-stage investments and supported over 2,500 entrepreneurs across the MENA region. Brings 20+ years of experience in startup acceleration and venture ecosystem development. She leads Manara's investment strategy and founder-support function.
Beyond Fawaz, no additional Manara Ventures investment team members (partners, principals, associates) have been named in public reporting. The fund's institutional backers — JCIF (chaired by Hani Qadi, CEO Faris Sharaf) and Lunate — sit above the fund as LPs/sponsors rather than as day-to-day investment team members, and are not being recorded as Manara team members here.
Decision Process
Likely a small, centralized team given the fund's early stage and single named investment leader (Fawaz as CEO). The firm's own messaging about "founder-speed decisions" and avoiding "six-month deliberation" implies a lean decision process, though the formal structure (solo GP vs. investment committee) has not been disclosed.
Founder Preferences
Manara explicitly targets founders with Jordanian roots — whether based in Jordan or in the diaspora — building technology-enabled, post-revenue companies with regional or global scaling ambitions. Sector emphasis is not formally published, but commentary around the launch points to fintech, SaaS, media, and digital infrastructure as areas where Jordan already has founder depth and where the fund is likely to find deal flow.
Geographic Focus
Founder-origin-based rather than headquarters-based: portfolio companies must be founded or co-founded by individuals with Jordanian roots, but those companies can be headquartered anywhere. The fund itself is domiciled in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) and structured as a fully Shariah-compliant investment platform, reflecting its backing from Gulf capital (Lunate, a $115B AUM Abu Dhabi-based investor) alongside JCIF, Jordan's largest private fund (backed by 16 Jordanian banks).
Fund Structure and Backing
Manara Ventures is sponsored by the Jordan Capital and Investment Fund (JCIF), chaired by Hani Qadi with Faris Sharaf as CEO, and anchored by Abu Dhabi-based Lunate as a key institutional backer. The fund is registered in ADGM as a Shariah-compliant vehicle — a structural choice aimed at broadening its Gulf LP base. This is Manara's Fund I; there is no disclosed Fund II or prior fund history, as the platform itself is new.
Summary Assessment
Manara Ventures is best understood as a well-capitalized, institutionally-backed but pre-track-record growth fund targeting a genuine, underserved niche: Jordanian-origin founders at post-revenue, growth stage. The thesis and capital base are credible (JCIF + Lunate backing, $70.5M fund size, ADGM Shariah-compliant structure), and the CEO has a strong regional operating pedigree from Oasis500. However, as of August 2026 there is no investment track record, no named portfolio, and only one publicly identified team member. Future research passes should watch for the fund's first announced deals to populate portfolio, lead-tendency, and sector-classification signal that cannot currently be evidenced.
Update: First Disclosed Investment (August 2026)
On August 11, 2026, Manara Ventures announced its first publicly disclosed investment: it led a $2M Pre-Series A round in Arab Therapy, a Berlin-based, Jordan-born Arabic-language digital mental health platform founded in 2021 by Dr. Tareq Dalbah (CEO) and Hekmat Al Hasi (CPTO). Co-investors were Anara Impact Fund (MENA) and Value Makers Studio (Saudi Arabia). Arab Therapy previously raised a $1M seed round in April 2024 led by Flat6Labs and Vision Health Pioneers, and operates across Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Germany, and Egypt serving both consumers and enterprise clients. The round funds regional expansion into Saudi Arabia and the wider Middle East. This is the first evidence of Manara living out its stated thesis: a Jordanian-founded, globally operating company, backed at growth/pre-Series A with a lead check, alongside regional co-investors — and it updates the fund's lead tendency from unknown to leads.