Ramallah, West Bank, July 5, 2017—IFC,
a member of the World Bank Group, is investing $1 million in Ibtikar Fund,
a leading Palestinian venture capital fund with a focus on accelerator-based
investments in technology startups. The investment is part of a larger
effort by IFC to support early stage entrepreneurs, spur innovation, and
drive growth in emerging markets.
IFC’s equity investment will help Ibtikar
(“Innovation” in Arabic) close at $10.45 million, to support more than
25 startups over a five-year period. The Ramallah-based fund, which was
launched in 2015, is particularly looking to support local startups with
either a regional or global mandate, so they can grow and take advantage
of other regional funds such as Wamda, BECO, MEVP, and others for follow-on
support.
“Ibtikar was launched to support the
creation and growth of promising Palestinian startups. IFC’s investment
will augment these efforts,” said Habib Hazzan, Ibtikar’s Managing General
Partner.
The investment is part of IFC’s Venture
Capital group’s $30 million Startup Catalyst initiative, which backs accelerators
and seed funds in emerging markets to catalyze the venture capital ecosystem
and spur entrepreneurial activity. It aims to help bridge issues of insufficient
seed capital and business know-how and drive innovation by supporting the
crucial early stage of local VC ecosystems.
"Our investment in Ibtikar is well
aligned with our creating markets campaign in the entrepreneurship space,
which we started few years ago," said Mouayed Makhlouf, IFC Regional
Director in the Middle East and North Africa. "The lack of funding
for start-ups in MENA in general, and the Palestinian Territories in particular,
is a major challenge. This investment will help Ibtikar continue its very
impressive journey in financing and supporting startups that are in need
of capital."
Ibtikar focuses on accelerator-based
investments in ICT-related companies that are majority-owned by Palestinians
and that either have operations in the West Bank and Gaza, or where the
majority of the investment monies will be spent in the territories. The
Fund is structured to both directly and indirectly accelerate companies
and provide follow-on funding.
IFC’s investment in Ibtikar follows
three other investments to help channel financing to technology startups
in the MENA region—a $1.2 million commitment to Flat6Labs in 2016, a regional
startup accelerator program based in Cairo; a $14 million investment in
Wamda Capital in 2015, a regional VC fund; and a $10 million investment
in Algebra Ventures, Egypt’s largest venture capital fund in 2016.
IFC’s Startup Catalyst initiative aims
to invest in approximately 20 accelerators, incubators, seed funds, and
other similar vehicles and structures that support entrepreneurs and early
stage companies. These will, in turn, provide seed funding for technology-enabled
startups.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development
institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. Working
with more than 2,000 businesses worldwide, we use our capital, expertise,
and influence to create markets and opportunities in the toughest areas
of the world. In FY16, we delivered a record $19 billion in long-term financing
for developing countries, leveraging the power of the private sector to
help end poverty and boost shared prosperity. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org.
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