Dubai Future District Fund

30/09/2026

In the second edition of DFDF’s Emerging Manager Series, we sit down with Khaled Talhouni, Managing Partner of Nuwa Capital, an early-stage fund investing across the region’s fastest-moving technology markets.

Nuwa has built its model around conviction-led portfolio construction, structured support for founders through value creation and access to specialist operators, and a candid reading of where regional venture is actually heading, rather than where the headlines suggest it should be.

In the second edition of DFDF’s Emerging Manager Series, we sit down with Khaled Talhouni, Managing Partner of Nuwa Capital, an early-stage fund investing across the region’s fastest-moving technology markets. Nuwa has built its model around conviction-led portfolio construction, structured supp...

25/09/2026

We’re happy to have participated in Matter Venture Partners’ latest fund and would like to congratulate the team on announcing the fund close.

We believe that the firm provides differentiated access to a highly specialized HardTech platform led by an experienced team with strong technical credentials and a proven ability to invest across semiconductors, robotics, advanced manufacturing, AI infrastructure and other foundational technologies.

Adding the fund to our portfolio also offers a credible strategic angle for the UAE, as this creates the potential for meaningful technology transfer and supports the UAE’s ambitions in advanced manufacturing, robotics, AI infrastructure and supply-chain diversification.

You can read more about why we invested in Matter Venture Partners here 🔗

We’re happy to have participated in Matter Venture Partners’ latest fund and would like to congratulate the team on announcing the fund close. We believe that the firm provides differentiated access to a highly specialized HardTech platform led by an experienced team with strong technical creden...

24/09/2026

Two days, two conversations on where capital is heading between the Gulf and Asia.

Our Managing Director, Nader Albastaki, spoke on two panels at DealStreetAsia's Asia PE-VC Summit 2026 in Singapore:

- Is the Gulf's new bargain with Asia moving beyond capital? This panel looked at how Gulf–Asia investment is shifting from capital flows to deeper strategic partnerships.

- Can LPs back Asia's next generation of managers in a consolidating market? This panel covered the role LPs play in backing emerging managers, even as capital concentrates.

Thank you to DealStreetAsia for hosting, and to our fellow panellists and moderators for the discussion.

24/09/2026

We're pleased to support Key Trek 2026, organised by Key Capital, a program that will bring 35+ MENA technology founders to London from 30 September to 7 October.

The companies represented have a combined valuation of over $150 billion, and they'll meet with international VCs, institutional investors, family offices and strategic partners.

The cohort covers many of the sectors that are central to Dubai's Economic Agenda D33, such as AI, FinTech, DeepTech, logistics, mobility, and PropTech.

Last year's edition led to 270 meetings between 32 MENA companies and 35 international investors. We look forward to building on that momentum and to bringing more global capital into the region's most promising companies.

More than 35 technology founders from the Middle East and North Africa will meet global investors in London as part of Key Trek 2026, a weeklong program organized by Key Capital, a UAE-based venture capital secondaries asset manager.

21/09/2026

Congratulations to our portfolio fund Arbor Ventures for taking part in Tabby’s $233M Series E fundraise.

Tabby has announced a $233 million funding round at a $6.5 billion valuation to support its expansion beyond buy now, pay later into broader financial services in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

20/09/2026

Nader Albastaki shares his insights with Bloomberg Línea on what the UAE's deepening commercial relationship with Mercosur means for Brazilian founders, and for investors on both sides of the corridor.

UAE-Mercosur bilateral trade reached USD 6.2 billion in 2025, and Brazil's exports to the Middle East now run at USD 16.1 billion a year, up 60% over the past decade.

Three areas where the overlap is clearest:

1. Fintech and payments. Brazil's payments infrastructure meeting Gulf remittance corridors that serve South Asia, Africa and East Asia.

2. PropTech and real estate. Dubai's development pipeline as a live testing environment for Brazilian companies.

3. Logistics and mobility. Dubai's position as a trade hub, with the digital infrastructure already in place.

Read the full conversation with Bloomberg Línea 🔗

Managing director do Dubai Future District Fund, Nader Al Bastaki, afirma que rotas comerciais entre os Emirados e o Mercosul abrem caminho para um maior fluxo de capital; ele lista construção civil, logística e pagamentos como setores de aproximação com empresas brasileiras

17/09/2026

We're happy to announce our investment in Nordstar-managed global growth fund to back regional founders scaling internationally.

Nordstar Partners (Nordstar) is a UK-headquartered investment manager focused on AI, FinTech and consumer technology. The commitment reflects our focus on the stretch between Series A and Series C, where regional companies must convert early traction into operational scale.

You can read more about the announcement here 🔗

Dubai Future District Fund (DFDF) has announced a commitment to a global growth fund managed by Nordstar Partners (Nordstar), a UK-headquartered investment manager focused on AI, FinTech and consumer technology. The commitment reflects DFDF’s focus on the stretch between Series A and Series C, whe...

09/09/2026

Congratulations to our portfolio funds Nuwa Capital and COTU Ventures for investing in Keep Converting's $2 million Pre-seed round.

You can learn more about the deal here 🔗

UAE-based AI-powered e-commerce startup Keep Converting has raised $2 million in a pre-seed round led by Nuwa Capital and COTU Ventures...

09/09/2026

Nader Albastaki on how DFDF is building Dubai into a node the global venture network routes through — in conversation with DealStreetAsia. 🔗

DFDF is committing to roughly one to two funds a month.

27/08/2026

MetaProp has published a piece on what it is building in the GCC alongside DFDF.

Written by General Partner Zak Schwarzman, it sets out how MetaProp's real asset innovation model, developed over a decade backing more than 120 companies, extends into this region, and why Dubai is the natural starting point.

The intent is a two-way bridge: connecting global PropTech companies with regional operators, asset owners and authorities, and giving companies here a route to expand internationally. PropTech is one of the technology verticals underpinning Dubai's Economic Agenda D33, and this work is one part of how we are developing it.

In the piece, our Managing Director Nader Albastaki notes that "the timing is right because the sector locally has matured to a point where a global bridge with a specialist, early-stage partner can compound quickly, across deal flow, portfolio access, and market entry. "

Here's a link to read the full article: https://www.metaprop.com/blog/dfdf-metaprop-gcc-partnership

MetaProp Blog | We’re partnering with DFDF to build a two-way bridge that helps global PropTech companies enter the GCC and regional startups scale globally.