A seventh venture capital firm has joined the Qatar Investment Authority’s ambitious fund-of-funds program, signaling that the initiative is gaining traction with its two-pronged mandate. Silicon Valley-based growth stage VC firm Founders Circle Capital (FCC) is also opening its first international office and MENA headquarters in the city.
Mohsin Pirzada, head of funds at QIA, told II that since its launch in 2024, QIA’s fund-of-funds program has received interest from both regional and international firms looking to expand their activities in Qatar and the GCC more broadly. The firms already in the fund include B Capital, Builders VC, Deerfield Management, Human Capital, Utopia Capital Management, and Qatar’s first home grown VC fund, Rasmal Ventures. These firms are all active in tech or health care.
QIA has deployed over $500 million to these funds “to achieve good financial performance and deliver a positive development impact on the Qatari venture capital ecosystem,” according to a release.
“We’re also seeing a lot of momentum within the startup ecosystem in Qatar, with a growing pipeline of credible founders, stronger participation from private investors, and companies looking to scale,” said Pirzada. FCC “brings complementary expertise, global connectivity, and a founder-centric approach that aligns closely with where our ecosystem is today — and where it is headed.”
The $1 billion initiative was established two years ago as part of Qatar’s Vision 2030 economic diversification push.
For a sovereign wealth fund that has traditionally invested in large-scale operations with well-established brands like the upscale Knightsbridge department store Harrods or infrastructure like London’s Heathrow Airport, the initiative marks an ideological shift. Currently, the fund of funds only represents a fraction of total AUM, at $1 billion.
“There is a genuine support for ecosystem building,” said Ken Loveless, partner and co-founder of FCC. “If you think about it, as investors it can often all be about returns, but when you are building around innovation there are a lot of things that can go right or wrong. It takes time.
“Our goal is to build a digital bridge between Silicon Valley-based growth stage winners and the GCC’s innovation and diversification priorities. We are going to be in it, versus just watching it.”
As part of the partnership, FCC will connect its leadership community known as “The Circle” to Qatar. The network brings together founders and others from FCC-backed companies as well as other growth‑stage startups.
The initiative has started to prove itself to those that joined early on, and as the only fund headquartered in Doha, Rasmal Holding was involved in the fund of funds from its conception.
Alexander Wiedmer, a partner at the firm, said, “it is awesome that funds are based here, because it attracts really great entrepreneurs to come and set up here, fundraise here, or have an office here, but either way, they're coming through Qatar and participating in events and building the ecosystem.”
The firm speaks to about 1,400 startups in the Middle East per year, but only ends up making four or five investments. Qatar succeeding as a tech hub could be game changing. “It means we don’t have to go seek out deals elsewhere.”
