Qatar Development Bank (QDB) Tuesday unveiled a co-investment product for start-ups, the first of its kind in the country, with it investing QR3.65mn per deal and allowing local and global funds to provide part of the required capital.
This was announced by QDB acting chief executive officer Abdulrahman Hesham al-Sowaidi at the bank's fifth Investment Forum, held in co-operation with Refinitiv, a London Stock Exchange Group business.
About the co-investment opportunity for the local and global funds, al-Sowaidi said under the new programme, "we will enable private investors and local and international funds to provide part of the required capital for start-ups with QDB investing up to QR3.65mn per deal."
This, according to him, would reduce the risks carried by individual and corporate investors and complete investment rounds more effectively.
More than 870 start-ups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have benefited from QDB's products and support so far with more than QR7.3bn deployed in direct and indirect financing since its inception.
"This includes QR253mn in 2022 and creating over 600 highly skilled jobs in sustainable and innovative businesses," he said.
Since the inception of its investment fund, valued at QR365mn, al-Sowaidi said it has launched a range of products such as SME Equity Fund or 'Istithmar', which is aimed at investing in start-ups.
The lender also revised 'Ithmar', a Shariah-compliant equity financing programme in which QDB funds up to 90% of a project, targeting the very early stage companies, according to him.
Regarding 'Ithmar', he said the bank has revisited the seed programme and upgraded it with developments in the industry and accordingly doubled the ticket size to QR1.8mn.
Through its various initiatives and programmes, QDB aims to cement Qatar's position as an ideal ecosystem for entrepreneurship where demand meets opportunity to foster innovation and growth, he said.
QDB's latest efforts have been focused on creating new initiatives specifically designed for emerging and growth oriented sub-sectors such as cybersecurity, deep tech, fintech and sportstech, al-Sowaidi said.
"Our efforts to boost the entrepreneurial ecosystem goes beyond investments with QDB providing capacity building training programmes to qualify more than 60 investors to actively engage within the investment sector," he said.
Through its investment Bootcamp, QDB educates new and seasoned investors on how to identity and evaluate emerging opportunities and provide guidance and advice on the investment process.
"Qatar is not only emerging as a successful hub for start-ups and SME growth but one that promises many opportunities for venture capitals, thanks to its fast-growing economy and untapped domains," al-Sowaidi said.
The forum featured eight companies operating across industries ranging from fashion to construction technology, namely Avey, Build Hop, Cytomate, Therappy, Emma, Dana Riad, Enable, and ADGS who pitched their innovative business solutions to investors.
Marc Deschamps, a unicorn entrepreneur in tech, and co-head of DAI Magister investment bank, addressed the forum, touching on emerging investment hubs. His keynote speech was followed by a discussion session with Ashraf Abu Issa, chairman and chief executive officer of Abu Issa Holding Company.
This year’s investment forum, which was organised in partnership with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the Doha Tech Angels investment club, saw angel investors and representatives of venture capital funds, investment banks and public investment funds from Qatar and overseas discuss the best practices in closing investment deals and efforts to overcome challenges in the investment landscape.