Phoenix Venture Partners Limited Research
Investment Thesis
Phoenix Venture Partners Limited ("PVP") is a Technology Venture Capital firm incorporated in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) on November 2, 2023, and licensed by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) as a Venture Capital Fund Manager since March 7, 2024. The firm backs exceptional founders building regional and global companies that disrupt traditional industries through what it calls a "Centralized Talent Management" model, pairing capital with a network of industry veterans and subject-matter experts. PVP frames its thesis around "Knowledge and Capital": knowledge covering technological advancement, data-driven insight, and access to disruptive ideation, and capital covering both financial capital and the human capital needed to execute on it.
Sector Focus
PVP invests across seven named technology sectors: Fintech & Insuretech, Healthtech, Agritech & Foodtech, Edtech, Enertech, Logtech & Mobility, and Consumer Tech. Its two disclosed investments to date span fintech (Sav, an AI-driven consumer finance platform) and edtech (GAGA, a live-learning platform), both AI-enabled products.
Stage Focus
PVP backs early-stage companies at Seed, Series A, and Series B. Both disclosed deals were structured as Pre-Series A rounds.
Check Size
Typical investments range from USD 100,000 to USD 7.5 million, with a capital allocation strategy of up to 5% for scouting, 35-40% for first investments, and up to 60% reserved for follow-ons. The firm can invest up to USD 7.5 million total into a single company over its lifetime.
Lead Tendency
PVP positions itself explicitly as a lead investor ("Lead Investor: Guiding the Investment Process and offering mentorship to the founders" is listed as one of its five value-creation pillars). Both known 2026 deals were firm-led rounds.
Recent Activity
PVP's debut vehicle, the Phoenix Venture Partners Innovation Fund (PVPIF), is a Vintage 2024, USD 50 million fund. It held a first close in October 2024, a second close in March 2025 (bringing in investors from France, Luxembourg, Mauritius, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia), and a third close on March 13, 2026 (adding investors from the US, France, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the UAE). The fund is actively deploying: it led a $2.5M Pre-Series A round in GAGA Inc. (Saudi edtech) in March 2026, and a $3.5M Pre-Series A round in Sav (UAE consumer fintech) in September 2026.
Portfolio Highlights
Disclosed portfolio companies are Sav (sav.money), a Dubai-based autonomous consumer fintech platform using AI and open finance rails, founded by Purvi Munot and Mithil Ajmera; and GAGA (gaga-app.com), a Saudi live-learning edtech platform for students aged 4-18, founded in 2021 by Abdullah Alkharsani and Eyad Alshabaan. The firm's public site has no dedicated portfolio/logo-wall page; the disclosed investments come from its Media Center press releases rather than a portfolio grid.
Team
- Steve Khayat, CFMP, CFM - Founder and Managing Director. 22+ years in investment banking and asset management; previously oversaw more than $1.6 billion AUM and $6 billion in IB deals; sits on multiple boards.
- Faris Al-Obaid, M.A. - Co-Founder and Non-Executive Director. 18+ years across the MENA region; advised Kuwait on its New Kuwait 2035 vision; most recently VP and GM for Mastercard Kuwait, and previously a four-year executive tenure at fintech unicorn Tamara (transitioned to a board role in December 2025). Trilingual (French, English, Arabic).
- Dr. Mussaad M. Al-Razouki - Co-Founder and Executive Director. 20+ years in executive and business-development roles spanning medicine, science, and sovereign wealth fund investing; has supported funds that scaled past $1 billion AUM.
Decision Process
PVP is run as a partnership of three founding/co-founding partners (Khayat, Al-Obaid, Al-Razouki) with a collective 60+ years of experience, rather than a solo-GP or formal investment-committee structure.
Founder Preferences
PVP describes its target founders as "unique innovators, outliers, exceptional founders" building durable, trusted brands with products that integrate into customers' daily lives, capable of disrupting both B2C and B2B markets across the GCC, MENA, and G20 economies.
Geographic Focus
GCC, MENA, and G20 economies, with disclosed deals in the UAE (Sav) and Saudi Arabia (GAGA), and LP capital drawn from the US, France, Luxembourg, Mauritius, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.