Qatar Development Bank (QDB) signed agreements yesterday with five international venture capital firms that would provide more than QR100mn worth of funding for Qatari small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
QDB CEO Abdulaziz bin Nasser al-Khalifa signed agreements with Iris Capital partner Alexander Wiedmer; Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator (ERA) managing partner Murat Aktihanoglu; 212 Fund managing partner Numan Numan; IDG Capital partner Vineet Kapur, and AfricInvest founding partner Aziz Mebarek during the ‘QDB Investment Forum’ held at the Hilton Doha.
Speaking to Gulf Times on the sidelines of the event, al-Khalifa said the total value of the agreements exceeds QR100mn and is the first tranche of the bank’s $100mn ‘Fund of Fund’ initiative launched more than a year ago. He said FoF is the process of “yellow service” investing into VC funds to get exposure to major international companies, bring them potentially to Qatar, set up their offices here, ensure that they actively contribute to the entrepreneurial ecosystem, and ensure sufficient liquidity and help Qatar startups scale up globally. 
Through this service, the bank’s long-term goal is to create a significantly large and diversified investment portfolio in VC funds so that it can then list the shares of yellow services as fund of funds, al-Khalifa said.
“We’re co-investing more than QR100mn for these VC firms to co-exist in Qatar. These VCs from US, Turkey, China, France, and Africa will also open offices in Doha, which will provide Qatari entrepreneurs access to venture capital money. 
“Venture capital money normally provides accessibility to high-risk projects, which are technology-based. This is exactly why we have those experts and the funds with us to enable accessibility to this VC model to enable technology-based Qatari projects accessibility not only to funding but also to the network that those funds would have to help them expand internationally,” al-Khalifa said.
Al-Khalifa also said the bank’s ‘Access to International Capital Service’ provides the opportunity for QDB-incubated or financed Qatari startups to present their ideas and concepts to international funds and seek additional follow on investments and financing.
The forum was highlighted by a demo day/pitching session for 15 entrepreneurs, who have raised investments from QDB under the ‘Seed Funding Programme’ and the ‘SME Equity Programme’, as well as interesting discussions around varied entrepreneurial related topics led by subject matter experts. 
Al-Khalifa said, “The agreements signed demonstrate the confidence of foreign investors in the economy of Qatar. This is a practical step by which Qatari entrepreneurs and SMEs can be made available to venture capital, a key component of the entrepreneurship system. 
He added, “It is well known that Qatar was ranked first in the Arab world in Global Entrepreneurship Index 2018 while securing the 22nd position globally, released by The Global Entrepreneurship and Development Institute (GEDI), which indicates the maturity and health of the entrepreneurship ecosystem that helps attract global funds to invest in Qatari potential small and medium enterprises. 
“This helps in developing and maintaining open channels of communications to expand the reach of Qatari Small and Medium enterprises to global markets, an indication of the confidence of these funds and the ability and effectiveness of the entrepreneurial system in the State of Qatar.”