VC firm announces $100 mn fund for Middle East, Asia, US

A new venture fund 'Fenox Global Fund IV' seeks to invest USD 100 million in the US, Asia and the Middle East.
The fund has been established by Fenox Venture Capital, a global investment firm headquartered in Silicon Valley, in partnership with Innovation 360, a leading innovation consultancy based in Dubai, UAE.
The investment would be undertaken in seed, Series A and pre-IPO funding, according to a report.
Fenox's current investment portfolio includes those in Dream Link Entertainment (DLE), the largest animation company of its kind in Japan that recently executed an IPO on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and Lark, a wearable technology company whose products are now sold at Apple stores around the world.

Now open to investors in the Middle East, the Fenox Global Fund IV will seek to invest in information technology startups - including Internet, computer hardware and software, and communications - as well as startups in the area of healthcare technology and clean tech.
The fund strategy is to invest in a mix of start-ups in need of seed and Series A funding in the Middle East, pre-IPO companies from Asia, and seed and Series A start-ups in the US - particularly Silicon Valley.

"We are breaking new ground in the Middle East with the Fenox Global Fund IV. I know of no other time that a Silicon Valley VC has used capital from Middle East investors to promote entrepreneurship in the local region," Brent Traidman, General Partner at Fenox, said.

Kamal Hassan, Fenox General Partner and president of Innovation 360, said: "Fenox sees the huge opportunity for growth in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region, and so we are offering funding and expertise to a few best-in-class regional startups who we believe will provide significant long-term gain.
"However, by also investing in more mature companies from Silicon Valley and Asia, the fund will diversify the investors' portfolio and create a greater return for investors," said Hassan.
Fenox has a track record of investing in global businesses from around the world, having managed funds that focus on entrepreneurial development in South Korea, Singapore, Japan, Indonesia and China.