Investor Profile: Modus Capital - Thesis, Cheque Size & How to Apply

Modus Capital describes itself as the Middle East and North Africa region's first operational venture capital fund and venture builder, with offices in New York, Cairo, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Its model combines venture funds, venture builders and a corporate innovation arm, so backed companies draw on operators, not only investors.

Thesis

The thesis is that the Middle East and North Africa needs builders, not just backers. Governments are investing heavily in private-sector development through programmes such as Saudi Vision 2030, yet early-stage founders still face gaps in product, hiring, growth and fundraising talent. Modus Capital therefore pairs capital with operational support to de-risk investments and fill those gaps itself.

Sectors and stages

Modus Capital is industry-agnostic, except for hardware, investing across software as a service, medtech, education, consumer products and more, provided the company has a clear mission and social impact. Its venture fund deploys into late Seed and Series A startups, prefers to lead rounds, and covers the UAE, Egypt, the Levant, Saudi Arabia and the GCC.

Fund size and cheque size

Its venture fund, Modus MENA Venture Fund I, was launched with a target of $75 million for early and growth-stage companies; that is a launch target from the fund's announcement, and a final closed size was not confirmed in the sources read. Separately, Modus Capital operates venture builders anchored by a $50 million Venture Builder Fund, with programmes in Abu Dhabi, Riyadh and Cairo. Cheque guidance differs between the fund's summary page and its questions page, so founders should confirm the current band: the summary page cites $500,000 to $2 million tickets, while the questions page cites incubation cheques of $50,000 to $250,000, Seed and Series A cheques of $250,000 to $1 million, and small and medium-sized enterprise and follow-on cheques of $1 million to $5 million.

Notable portfolio

Companies associated with Modus Capital include Meddy, a web platform for finding doctors and booking appointments, which Modus Capital supported to raise a $2.5 million Series A and joined on its board. Its 2023 venture-builder cohort built and launched eight startups with $2.8 million invested across them, including JamaliBox, and healthtech company MDBX.

Partners and programmes

Modus Capital was founded by Awad Makkawi and Kareem Elsirafy, as reported in secondary directories, and its fund is backed by ultra-high-net-worth individuals, family offices, private investors and government-backed entities from the United States, Europe and the Middle East and North Africa, according to its own questions page. Its flagship founder programme is the venture-builder model itself: a nine-month programme co-building ideas with operational experts, with product, marketing, engineering, design, research and strategy support. It also partnered with Hub71 on Ventures Lab, which aimed to accept a minimum of 16 companies per year; that announcement is historical. No standard cloud-credit bundle was advertised in the sources read.

How to apply for funding

The real route is through the firm's official site, modus.vc, where the venture capital page sets out its stages, geographies and cheque bands. A strong approach will state the market, the late Seed or Series A stage, the operational gap to close, and evidence of market testing. Founders at idea stage should target the venture builder rather than the fund.