UAE-based accelerator and investor Turn8 launched a $60 million venture capital fund on Sunday for technology innovation.
This new fund makes Turn8 one of the largest providers of seed capital in the region that also targeting global startups.
The new fund will use a dual investment strategy, investing seed funding to accelerator-stage startups and follow-on funding for all for growth stage startups that graduate from the Turn8 accelerator.
Turn8 supports its accelerated startups with investment, mentorship, training and year-long business development support. The follow-on investment is intended to help them scale and grow globally.
With the latest fund, which joins the seed fund Turn8 launched in 2013, the Dubai-based venture fund wants to fill a gap in the regional market.
“This strategic move comes from witnessing a major gap in the market for startups to grow from the accelerator stage into full-fledged businesses that attract venture capital,” said Turn8 general partner Kamal Hassan in a statement.
“The fund will continue to support the startup ecosystem and look for opportunities in technology innovation that match our portfolio requirements and are in line with our strategic objectives,” he said.
So far, the Turn8 accelerator has launched and invested in over 60 companies, including Pixelbug, Loadme, and Kashmi.
DP World and Innovation360 set up the Turn8 accelerator in 2013. Since then it has successfully provided pre-seed funding to startups in sectors such as digital healthcare, crowdsourcing, edutech, fintech and cloud solutions, and raised over $6 million in co-investment for its portfolio companies from various worldwide investors.