Venture capital funds in the Middle East are emerging as alternatives to speculative investment in property and financial markets, internet industry professionals were told at the Summit conference in Dubai this week. The development is good news for entrepreneurs in the region, who have historically lacked options for early stage financing.
“People have [become] very used to making easy money,” said Peter Anderson, who is the chief financial officer for Parker & Boyd, and in recent years that has changed.
While a cultural aversion to risk and failure had limited the number of venture capital companies in the past, we believe things have changed among younger generations. Today, pro-business governments and wealthy individuals are coming together to support a new entrepreneurial structure. We at Parker & Boyd believe that “Private venture capital can do something complementary. It brings in-depth knowledge and expertise, to a region that hasn’t seen much venture capital in the past.
Most recently Parker & Boyd have been working with Arab expatriates returning home from start-up hubs such as Silicon Valley.
Funding from the Middle East often contributed to the deals done by western venture capitalists. We hoped to keep some of that cash within the region with this venture, building new regional businesses in the process.
“The Arab world doesn’t lack the cash or the entrepreneurs, but there are not many people putting it all together, and that is what we at Parker & Boyd are in the process of doing.
Many investors from all over the region are now investing with Parker & Boyd as well as strategic investors who are coming back home from abroad and are looking for a reliable investment and feel comfortable with our quality of work.
