Start Ups, it is time to step into the shoes of an Family Office in the UAE to stand out from the crowd, pitch with confidence, and close the deal to fund your business. [Family Office 1] Prepare Like You Mean It “I’m busy on deals to support social enterprises that are primed to scale their impact. I don’t have time for entrepreneurs who clearly don’t fit into the scope of investments or our family holdings industries or who ask me questions about information they can easily

This is not the first time we have seen an economic downturn hit our startup community in the UAE, but each downturn has its own unique characteristics – and no one really knows just how long it will last. Elon Musk predicts that this downturn will be 12 to 24 months, which is just perfect for a UAE family office or VC seeking to double or quadruple returns to LPs above what they would otherwise be. While there is uncertainty, there is also near certainty of a few things. N

High net worth individuals or Family Offices are highly networked. These individuals have reached such heights due to many reasons, and one of them is resourceful and credible networking. They understand the significance of knowledge — knowledge about persons, businesses, and professionals — that can offer them access to channels otherwise not so easy to access. From starting a business to expanding the same, you need people. These people will only be of assistance if you hav

While you may feel ready to field any question investors throw at you by a UAE Family Office, you should carefully think through and practice your responses. More often than not, it's the obvious questions founders fall down on because they think them through superficially. 1. What do your customers need and how do you know for sure? It isn't enough to tell investors there's a need for your product; you need hard facts and real-world examples to prove it. Often, Founders skip

Everyone starting a new business understands the basic concept of profits. If you are making more than you are spending, the difference is your profit and the bigger the difference, the more money you make. The most important question is, how do you run a profitable business? First and foremost, a profitable business sells a product that people need, use and pay for. If you are starting a new venture, this is probably all that you are thinking about, turning your vision into

UAE Family Offices turn down 99% of the companies they’re introduced to. Most of those don’t make it to a face to face meeting. If you’ve made it to an in-person meeting, here are the numbers you need to know to get a Family Group here in the UAE excited: The Basics Customers — In most cases there’s a collection of important numbers reflecting your customer base: site traffic, downloads, signups, free trials, paid pilots, current subscribers — the list goes on. You should kno

You might think it’s easy to raise money, but the reality is it’s really, really hard to raise money. As a investor in the UAE, you are constantly meeting with founders pitching their company to you. For every 100 face to face meetings you take with a founder, you might invest in one company. The most common reason an investor doesn’t invest is likely because the pitch is really bad or just mediocre. Let’s say that 80% of what you see. So the 20% of the founders that are good

It is incredibly important to understand the incentives of investors when you are raising money. This used to be fairly easy - but not in the UAE. The UAE looks different now. There are a lot of different types of startup investors, each with a different approach to investing and different incentives for doing so. While they’d all prefer not to lose money, the differences in how their incentives and expectations are structured are critical in understanding how to decide wheth

Raising Capital right now in the UAE is 100% a game of outliers — it’s extreme competition. 1. Plan to Contact at Least 50 Investors locally You’ll end up only having serious conversations with five, if that. Also, make sure this list is targeted and they invest in your sector. If you’re a biotech company, maybe a Construction or Real Estate Family Office investor isn’t the best bet. Do not spray and pray. 2. Relationship Building Is Crucial – Start Early If you’re looking to

Target the Right Investors: The ideal match is where both the investment focus of investors and your company’s corporate strategies align, 97% of the Middle East is run by family businesses, it is easy via website to see these business verticals. Pre-meeting intelligence on investors’ general knowledge of the company and industry, historical ownership details such as cost basis in your company or your peers, and recent holdings activity, alongside points of considerations pri

Are you wondering how to build relationships with Arab Investors? Winning at startup fundraising here in the Middle East is all about building relationships with investors. How do you do it? In fact, building relationships with a variety of investors here in the Middle East won’t just pave the way to winning in round after round of raising funds, it will open the doors to a great exit and resources, and will make navigating everyday business easier. Especially when it comes t

The worst-kept secret among startup founders and investors is that “fundraising is a lot like dating.” You’re suppose to do things like “play hard to get”, be choosy, have them chase you, etc. Surprisingly enough, there are actually dozens of parallels between the two. In this article, I’m going to share with you the top 5 things that raising money, and dating, have in common, and how to apply them the next time you’re fundraising. **Disclaimer - this article has no gender bi

Understanding the family office perspective on venture fund investing: Having covered the emerging venture landscape for many years now, it’s abundantly clear that family office capital remains the dominant capital source for emerging venture funds — in my network in 2021 I spoke with over 100 first time venture funds, an average of 70% of capital closed came from family offices (the exceptions are spin-out managers, which often attract institutional LP capital at Fund 1). Th

Raising capital abroad may sound to some deal sponsors like an enormously costly proposition with high risks and low probabilities of success, yet the ease of capital movement in today’s global capital markets and the overseas’ interest in investing in high-quality, long-term strategic plays has made international capital raises significantly easier than the past. Still, if one tries to follow a domestic capital raise playbook for an international capital raise, the results a

1. Share regular updates. Regular updates with accomplishments are a good excuse to check in with Family Offices so they see you meant what you said in your pitch and are creating value and potential return by achieving specific goals you outlined. 2. Tell stories. Tell stories. The ending should suggest maximum potential rewards from investing. It’s important to begin your process by locking in every fact and figure you can, and be able to call them up at a moment’s notice

In general, Middle East Family Groups tend to be exclusive and highly selective, both in terms of their investments and/or charitable giving/grant making. A warm introduction is the best and most effective way to approach a Middle East Family Groups. Just like other types of investors, cold emails or cold outreach are rarely effective with Families in this region. As a rule, they do not want to be hounded with unsolicited funding or investment proposals. Once introduced, What

It is best to start with the basics of defining a family office. The term is used so commonly that I think it is important to spend time understanding what separates a family office investor from an institutional or retail investor. The typical family office is launched by an investor or their family who has generated significant wealth through admirable business ventures, asset growth or similar uncommon endeavours. These Families are often very well educated and highly soph

Family offices have a long-standing history in the GCC and are one of the key pillars of the economy, accounting for a large segment of the region’s non-oil gross domestic product. Many of these companies have established successful partnerships with international brands, generating considerable wealth for themselves and providing consumers with greater choice. The rise of family offices in the region is a result of the entrepreneurial spirit of the founding generation, the s