VentureSouq (VSQ) is a MENA-based venture capital fund manager headquartered in the UAE, with a global portfolio and a thesis-driven approach. The firm is a regulated fund manager under the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) FSRA, with a team spanning the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, and describes itself as a long-term partner to visionary founders building transformative tech companies.
VentureSouq manages thematic funds rather than a single generalist vehicle. Its two active mandates are FinTech — covering lending, asset management, cryptocurrency, banking, embedded fintech, compliance tech, credit, payments and real estate tech — and ClimateTech — covering the carbon economy, waste tech, energy storage, climate fintech, alternative proteins, the circular economy, climate analytics, agtech and supply-chain tech. Its earlier Global Seed programme is fully deployed, and the firm counts 300+ portfolio companies across 30+ countries.
What distinguishes VentureSouq is its ecosystem-building alongside investing. It launched the Conscious Investor Fellowship, the region's first impact-investing programme, with partners including NYU Abu Dhabi's startAD, KAUST, Sheraa, Hub71, the United States Mission to the UAE and Wa'ed Ventures — running cohorts with 50% female representation. It also co-organises Angel Rising, the annual investor symposium with startAD, which has convened 90+ speakers, 2,900 participants and reached 11 million people digitally.
The firm's public faces include General Partner Maan Eshgi — who has described VentureSouq's ambition to act as a 'regional unifier', giving portfolio companies swift access to GCC and global markets — and Sonia Weymuller, a founding figure of the firm. Institutional backing includes a $2m commitment from the Innovative Startups and SMEs Fund (ISSF) into VentureSouq Fund II. The firm's overall fund size is not publicly disclosed, and earlier published guidance put typical ticket sizes at $100k–$4m, with a preference for late seed to Series A companies that already show traction.
Beyond capital, VentureSouq says it leverages its extensive global network to help portfolio companies expand across markets and drive additional capital into their rounds — a pitch pitched squarely at founders eyeing the GCC as a launchpad.
Why it matters for founders
If you are building in fintech or climate tech and see the Middle East as a growth market, VentureSouq is one of the region's anchor early-stage investors: ADGM-regulated, anchored in the ecosystem, and explicitly geared to connect portfolio companies across the GCC and beyond. Its Conscious Investor Fellowship and Angel Rising symposium make it a gateway into the region's investor networks, not just a cheque. Apply via venturesouq.com — but note the bar: the firm prefers companies with real traction, and total fund size is not publicly disclosed.