Hub71, Abu Dhabi’s global tech ecosystem, has joined forces with New York-born Modus Capital, a venture capital and venture builder firm to launch Ventures Lab.
The venture builder will enable early-stage founders from around the world to develop successful and scalable start-ups from Abu Dhabi.
Ventures Lab will help founders test and validate ideas and concepts, build minimum viable products (MVPs) and take products to market.
The nine-month program will accept a minimum of 16 founders each year following a selection process conducted by Hub71, Modus and other industry experts.
Each graduating venture will benefit from up to $450,000 worth of funding and in-kind resources from the Modus Venture Builder throughout the duration of the program, based at Hub71.
Upon graduation from Ventures Lab, founders will gain access to Hub71’s Incentive Program and its community where they will continue to receive operational support, supplementary teams and the incentives, programs and global networks to broaden their market reach.
Graduating founders will also gain access to the $80 million Modus MENA Venture Fund (MMVFI) domiciled at Abu Dhabi Global Market, in addition to Hub71’s growing capital community of 17 VC funds with assets under management of more than $1.72 billion.
Hub71 said it will also prioritise female entrepreneurs and UAE nationals to help foster the next generation of diverse homegrown founders.
Nader Museitif, head of Products and Business Development at Hub71, said: “We believe that a strong and sustainable business model is just as important as the founder themselves, which is why from ideation to exit, our partnership with Modus will deliver more than access to Hub71, but also the strategic planners, coders, marketing experts and tech developers to help commercialize their products and secure capital.
“Through Ventures Lab, we will enable more founders to lead viable tech companies, attract new companies and investment to Abu Dhabi while supporting the nation’s future generation of entrepreneurs to shape the nation’s future digital-based economy.”
With offices in New York, Cairo, and now Abu Dhabi, Modus Capital is supporting the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem development, investing in successful start-up ventures in the MENA region.
Modus is launching regional co-working spaces to house its venture builders and corporate innovation programs and plans to launch an additional three venture builders across the region, beginning with Saudi Arabia later this year.
Kareem Elsirafy, managing partner at Modus Capital, said: “We’re excited to be supporting and fostering entrepreneurship through our partnership with Hub71, with not just capital, but also the expertise and hands-on operational and tailored guidance that start-ups are in need of in the early-stages.”
Hub71 is a flagship initiative of the AED50 billion economic accelerator program Ghadan 21.
