According to the Wall Street Journal, seasoned MENA investor Fadi Ghandour has teamed up with the International Finance Corp. to launch a new venture fund. The target is $75 million and the closing is expected to be in April. The fund will focus on MENA tech startups. It will also be managed by Ghandour’s investment firm Wamda Capital, which will offer between $1 million and $3 million to the pool. The IFC will reportedly contribute between $10 million and $15 million to the fund. Fadi Ghandour is the Founder and Vice Chairman of Aramex where he served for 30 years as the company’s CEO. Aramex is one of the leading global logistics and transportation companies. Fadi is also the co-Founder and Director of MENA Venture Investments, a seed capital investment company investing in early stage tech companies in the MENA region. He is a member of the Board of Abraaj Capital, and the Chairman of WAMDA.com, an entrepreneurship support platform for the MENA region. He is a Member of the Board of Trustees at the American University of Beirut. He is a Member of the Board of Yemeksepeti a leading Turkish ecommerce company and Founding Investor in Maktoob.com sold to Yahoo in 2009. Fadi also serves as a board member of Oasis 500, a leading early stage and seed investment company in Jordan that provides entrepreneurship training, mentorship guidance, incubation and additional follow-up investment funds. Furthermore, he is the Chairman of the Advisory Council of the Center for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) at the Institute of Business Administration Karachi (IBA); one of the best Business and IT institutes in Pakistan. Fadi is passionate about social entrepreneurship. He is the Founder and Chairman of Ruwwad for Development, a regional private sector-led community empowerment initiative that helps disadvantaged communities overcome marginalization through youth activism, civic engagement, and education, and provides access to capital for microbusinesses in marginalized communities. He is also the Founder and Chairman of Ruwwad Micro-Venture Capital Fund which provides training, mentorship and access to capital for microbusinesses in marginalized communities. He is a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council of the Columbia University School of Social Work. He serves as a Regional Board Member of Injaz Al Arab, an organization that aims to equip students with entrepreneurial, leadership and practical business-related skills. Ghandour recently launched Corporate Entrepreneurship Responsibility, CER a collaborative movement which aims to lobby, mobilize and organize private sector efforts in building entrepreneurial ecosystems in the MENASA region.
