du Launches US$50M du Ventures, a Corporate Fund Managed by Shorooq

du has set up a US$50 million corporate venture fund, du Ventures, which will invest in companies across the region. Shorooq, a multi-strategy investment firm, manages the vehicle.

The fund's stated focus is fintech, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. It spans multiple technology sectors, with financial services the most detailed part of its remit: fintech infrastructure, loyalty platforms and enterprise solutions are all named targets. The fund is aimed at startups with market-ready solutions rather than early concepts.

A significant portion of the capital is allocated to ventures based in the UAE.

What founders are offered

Alongside capital, du Ventures gives founders access to du's enterprise reach and infrastructure. That combination — a telecom operator with an existing subscriber base and merchant relationships, plus an investment firm running the allocation — is the pitch to founders deciding between competing term sheets.

Fahad Al Hassawi, du's chief executive, framed the mandate around strategic fit. The fund backs "technologies and founders that align closely with our strategic priorities," he said. Pairing du's scale with startup innovation is intended to accelerate the commercialization of emerging technologies.

technologies and founders that align closely with our strategic priorities,

Shorooq will prioritize investments that match du's corporate strategy, which shapes deal selection well beyond pure financial return. The manager is not running a generalist fund with a corporate logo attached; the thesis is du's.

The distance between a working product and a scaled one

Mahmoud Adi, a founding partner at Shorooq, said the region's most promising startups deserve access to "both capital and the strategic infrastructure that du can offer." The partnership aims to bridge the gap between innovation and scale for founders bringing new solutions to market.

The launch marks du's expansion into the broader digital investment space. Gulf telecom operators have spent years watching third-party platforms capture value built on top of their networks — payments, messaging, loyalty, advertising. A dedicated fund gives du an ownership position in that layer instead of a wholesale relationship with it.

Fintech infrastructure and loyalty platforms are logical targets for that reason. Both sit close to assets a telecom already controls: billing rails, subscriber identity and distribution. A startup selling into banks or merchants can use those assets to shorten a sales cycle that would otherwise run for years, and du gets a stake in the product rather than a line item in someone else's revenue.

US$50 million is modest against the largest regional venture pools. Corporate funds are judged on something other than cheque size, though — the test is whether the parent company's distribution actually moves a portfolio company's revenue, and whether the startups that take the money can sell outside du's own channels.

Nothing has been disclosed about how many deals the fund expects to make, which stages it will target beyond "market-ready," or how the capital splits between first cheques and follow-on rounds.