Abu Dhabi-Based Access Bridge Ventures Launches With US$25 Million Fund To Support Early-Stage Startups In The MENA Region – Entrepreneur

Abu Dhabi-Based Access Bridge Ventures Launches With US$25 Million Fund To Support Early-Stage Startups In The MENA Region – Entrepreneur

January

12, 2021



7 min read











Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.





You're reading Entrepreneur Middle East, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.









"We are not afraid of leading deals and setting terms, regardless of what's happening out there,” says Issa Aghabi, co-founder and Managing Partner of Access Bridge Ventures (ABV), a new venture capital fund manager based in Abu Dhabi and regulated by the Abu Dhabi Global Market, when asked about the value that the newly launched fund will add to the MENA region's investment landscape.Aghabi's response reveals decades of experience in investing and exiting tech companies in the region and beyond. It is that same expertise on the matter (prior to co-founding ABV, Aghabi headed the venture capital activities of the International Finance Corporation in the MENA region and Pakistan) that will act as a barrier to ABV co-founders being fearful during any kind of market crisis, such as the COVID-19 outbreak."In terms of the investment landscape, my personal observation is that COVID-19 put a stop to things for a good six or more months," Aghabi says. "It has picked up thereafter, and we are now seeing some of those rounds being announced. A key observation was that there is an availability of capital, but