Phaze Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
Phaze Ventures is the first and oldest private venture capital firm headquartered in Oman, founded in 2018 to help unlock the untapped potential of the region's youth, startups, and corporates. The firm's stated mission is to accelerate the transformation of GCC economies by backing early-stage B2B AI and deeptech founders, while extending its reach into North America and, more selectively, Europe. Phaze positions itself as a bridge between Gulf capital and global technology talent, combining local governance and ecosystem knowledge with a global investment lens.
Sector Focus
The firm's stated focus is early-stage Deeptech and AI companies, but its actual portfolio spans a broader set of categories:
- B2B AI and applied AI (voice AI, AI networking, AI documentation, AI e-commerce tooling)
- Enterprise software and workflow/productivity tools
- Healthcare and medtech (autonomous surgical robotics, AI medical documentation)
- Maritime and industrial technology (maritime workflow software, maritime cybersecurity)
- Logistics and delivery platforms
- Consumer marketplaces (through follow-on/regional exposure to Kavak)
This mix reflects a "back the best founders emerging from or serving the GCC" mandate rather than a single vertical thesis.
Stage Focus
Phaze primarily writes checks at Seed, with selective Pre-Seed and Series A activity, and occasional small follow-on participation into Series B rounds for existing portfolio companies. Publicly tracked deal data shows roughly 5 Seed investments (average round size ~$1.8M), 3 Series A investments (average round size ~$8.2M), and 2 Series B participations (average round size ~$12.5M), indicating the firm typically enters early and follows selectively rather than leading growth rounds.
Check Size
Exact per-check figures are not publicly disclosed. Based on round sizes the firm has participated in, typical seed checks appear to be in the low hundreds-of-thousands to low millions of dollars, consistent with a $30M fund spread across 24+ portfolio companies.
Lead Tendency
Public deal coverage more often describes Phaze as a participant ("Phaze Ventures participates in...") than as a lead investor, including in the eMushrif and Andromeda Surgical rounds. There is not enough disclosed data to confidently classify the firm as a consistent lead or follow investor, so lead tendency is recorded as unknown pending further primary-source confirmation.
Recent Activity
Fund status: actively deploying. Notable recent and historical activity includes:
- January 2026: Participated in a ~$7.5M funding round for eMushrif (Oman), a school transportation technology platform.
- 2026: Investment in instaSpace (business/productivity software), per third-party deal trackers.
- 2026: Investment in Metal (also referenced as "Dower").
- 2025: Participated in Andromeda Surgical's Series A (led by Standard Capital) after first backing the company at seed in September 2025; Andromeda builds autonomous surgical robots for holmium laser enucleation of the prostate (HoLEP).
- September 2024: Portfolio company Cyber Owl (maritime cybersecurity) was acquired by DNV, marking one of the firm's clearest exits to date.
- November 2021: Launched a $30M venture fund, the first private VC fund of its kind based in Oman, backed by the country's largest institutions, targeting early-stage startups across the GCC, Europe, and North America.
Portfolio Highlights
Phaze Ventures has made roughly 24-30 disclosed investments. Notable companies include:
- Kavak — pre-owned vehicle marketplace; the portfolio's unicorn outcome, later acquired Akeed Delivery (another Phaze portfolio company) in 2022.
- Boardy — AI "superconnector" voice-based professional networking assistant.
- Sully — AI medical documentation for clinicians.
- Cyber Owl — maritime cyber-risk monitoring platform; acquired by DNV in September 2024 (exit).
- Andromeda Surgical — autonomous surgical robotics for urology procedures.
- Qeen — AI-driven e-commerce tooling.
- Voyager — maritime workflow software.
- eMushrif — school transportation technology (Oman).
- SpotLight — seismic monitoring technology.
- Onclarity, Tarjama, Interface Fluidics, Metal, instaSpace, Akeed Delivery (acquired/merged 2022) — additional portfolio companies spanning enterprise software, translation services, industrial technology, and logistics.
Team
- Abdullah Al-Shaksy — Co-Founder & Partner (based in Dubai). More than a decade of experience investing across public and private equities; supports portfolio companies across the US, Europe, and the Middle East.
- Mohammed Al-Wahaibi — Co-Founder & Partner (based in Muscat). Brings engineering, operating, and investment experience across Oman and the UK, with a focus on governance and portfolio support.
- Masoud Al-Rawahi — Co-Founder & Partner (Oman). Also founder and CEO of PhazeRo; over a decade of technology and entrepreneurship experience across the US and Oman.
- Mohamed Al Sajwani — Principal (Oman).
The firm operates as a small partnership (three co-founding partners plus supporting team), suggesting a partnership-style decision process rather than a solo-GP or large investment-committee model.
Decision Process
Partnership-style, based on team composition (three co-founding partners) and typical structure for a fund of this size. Not independently confirmed via primary sources.
Founder Preferences
Public commentary and portfolio composition suggest a preference for technical, deeptech- and AI-oriented founders building B2B products, including founders building for or from the GCC region, as well as US-based technical founders (e.g., Andromeda Surgical, Boardy, Sully) that Phaze can support into or alongside the Gulf ecosystem.
Geographic Focus
Primary focus: Oman, broader GCC (UAE, Saudi Arabia), with meaningful exposure to North America (multiple US-based portfolio companies) and selective European interest. Headquartered in Muscat, Oman, with at least one partner based in Dubai.
Fund Status
$30M fund (announced November 2021) backed by leading Omani institutions; actively deploying as of the most recent disclosed investments in 2026.