Shorooq Partners Research
Investment Thesis
Shorooq Partners is a tech-focused, multi-strategy alternative investment manager founded in 2017 and headquartered in Abu Dhabi, with offices and presence in Dubai, Riyadh, Cairo, Doha, Seoul and San Francisco. It runs venture capital, private credit, private equity and real assets strategies. Its stated approach is to partner with founders from their earliest days through late-stage scale, and to back "exceptional outliers" with potential to lead their industries. It describes itself as sector agnostic, and its founders-turned-investors pitch emphasizes operational support and regional networks alongside capital.
Venture Strategies
Shorooq runs four distinct venture vehicles. The Bedaya Funds back founders at pre-seed through early rounds across fintech, software, frontier technology and platforms. The Presight-Shorooq AI Fund, a $100M global AI fund launched in September 2025 with Presight (a G42 company), invests in reasoning, physical intelligence and applied AI, with access to compute, data and enterprise environments. The Qatalyst Funds target late-stage and pre-IPO growth; a $200M Qatalyst fund backed by the Qatar Investment Authority was announced at Web Summit Qatar in February 2026. Co-investment vehicles give partners deal-by-deal access to late-stage opportunities.
Stage Focus
The portfolio page says Shorooq invests in Seed, Series A and growth companies. Across its strategies it covers pre-seed through pre-IPO. No fixed check size range is published, so none is recorded here.
Lead Tendency
Public sources show a mix: Shorooq led the growth investment in FMSi alongside Emirates Growth Fund (September 2026) and co-backed Maven Robotics' $100M Series A with Presight. Lead tendency is recorded as both.
Recent Activity
- September 2026: growth investment in FMSi, a fleet management solutions company, with Emirates Growth Fund. The firm calls it a milestone for its private equity strategy.
- October 2026: seed investment in OptimizeGEO, per PitchBook and Crunchbase listings.
- 2026: Presight-Shorooq AI Fund deployed capital into several AI startups across the US and UAE, including Maven Robotics.
- February 2026: $200M Qatalyst late-stage fund launched with QIA backing.
- Tracxn counted 10 investments in 2026 as of October.
Portfolio Highlights
The portfolio lists 90+ companies. Headline names include Replit, Tamara, Hebbia, Mozn, Lean Technologies, Cusp AI, AMI Labs, Maven Robotics, General Robotics, NymCard, Sarwa, Nawy, PRYPCO, Pemo and Pure Harvest. Many are fintech, proptech and AI/deeptech companies in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Pakistan, with a growing set of US and European AI companies. The site shows exited, acquired and liquidated companies in its index but does not label which is which in the page text, so notable exits are not asserted.
Team
- Mahmoud Adi, Founding Partner; co-founder and board member of Pure Harvest Smart Farms.
- Mohammed AlTwaijri, investment professional in Riyadh; built and exited F&B and retail ventures.
- Dr. Bilal Baloch, leads value creation; co-founder and board member of Enquire AI, formerly COO and Co-CEO.
- Other team members (a strategy associate and a debt investor with Symbiotics background) appear on the team page without surnames.
Decision Process
Not publicly documented. The firm describes a meticulous deal-making process and locally embedded partners. Recorded as partnership.
Founder Preferences
Founders who are exceptional outliers with potential to become industry leaders, and operators who value hands-on support. Shorooq says it has been founders itself and wants to be involved from the first cheque.
Geographic Focus
Home markets are MENA (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Jordan) and Pakistan, with additional reach into Korea, Turkey and Bangladesh. The global AI strategy invests in the US, UK, France and the UAE.