Abu Dhabi’s Chimera Capital concludes second close of VC fund at $10bn

The fund will target global growth stage companies with a focus on FinTech, AI, life sciences, consumer internet and B2B sectors

Chimera Capital is a fund manager regulated by the Abu Dhabi Global Market. Photo: Victor Besa / The National

Chimera Capital, an Abu Dhabi asset management company and subsidiary of Chimera Investments, concluded the second close of its Alpha Wave Ventures II fund at $10 billion (Dh36.7bn).

The Alpha Wave Ventures II fund is Chimera’s second venture capital fund.

The fund, which is co-managed with Alpha Wave Global (formerly Falcon Edge Capital), will target high-quality, exclusive assets globally with a focus on FinTech, artificial intelligence, life sciences, consumer internet and B2B sectors, the company said in a statement.

Alpha Wave Ventures II is a multi-stage fund primarily concentrated on growth stage companies with clear exit strategies, the statement added.

“Through the fund, we will be investing in dynamic, tech-driven businesses that are providing innovative solutions to key problems, contributing to the development of the local knowledge economy, while strengthening Abu Dhabi’s position as a hub of innovation and technology,” said Syed Shueb, chairman of Chimera Capital.

Bourses in the region are ramping up efforts to diversify their product offerings to attract more foreign direct investment and boost trading activity as their economies recover from coronavirus-induced headwinds.

The fund manager is regulated by the Abu Dhabi Global Market and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chimera Investment, an Abu Dhabi-based private investment company managing a diversified international portfolio of listed and private equities. It primarily focuses on the alternative asset management space.

Set up in 2007, Chimera is part of Abu Dhabi’s Royal Group, which is active in a number of sectors including property, construction, food and beverages, hospitality, aviation and health care. The group has more than 60 companies under its umbrella and employs 120,000 people.

Mena start-ups raised $1.2bn in the first half of 2021, up 64 per cent over the same period a year ago, according to data platform Magnitt. However, the number of deals dropped by 20 per cent to 254 as angel investors diverted funds towards more traditional asset classes such as stock markets and property.

The UAE led in terms of deal numbers, securing 61 per cent of all investment. Major funding rounds in the first half included $415 million for Dubai’s cloud kitchen company Kitopi, $30.5m for Saudi Arabia’s e-commerce platform Sary and $30m for Egyptian freight start-up Trella.

The UAE, Egypt and Saudi Arabia accounted for 71 per cent of total capital invested during the period, the Magnitt data showed.

“Building on the successful launch of five exchange-traded funds and a global venture capital fund, and the strong track record of successful fund deployments and deal executions developed over the past three years, we look forward to co-managing the Alpha Ventures II fund with our partners,” said Seif Fikry, chief executive of Chimera Capital.

In December, Chimera said it is investing $100m in Egyptian developer Gemini Global Development for a significant minority equity stake in the company to support its expansion in the Arab world’s most populous country. Gemini is a subsidiary of Ora Developers, which is owned by Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris.

Chimera Capital launched the first ETF tracking a Sharia-compliant index that is available to investors through the UAE’s two main stock exchanges in 2020. The Chimera S&P UAE Sharia ETF has two different share classes that will track a Sharia-compliant index compiled from stocks listed in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

The company listed its Chimera S&P UAE Shariah ETF – Share Class A in Abu Dhabi and did a separate listing for Share Class B on the DFM.