Supply chains in the Middle East are shaping up to be the next major opportunity for venture capital investors, especially when the Iran war ends, the founder of Dubai's Global Ventures has said.
The growth of emerging technology, including artificial intelligence, are to play a key role in streamlining manufacturing, fourth-party logistics, localisation and other sectors, which could attract investment, Noor Sweid said.
"Supply chains started to be disrupted a lot with Covid ... and the region's always been leapfrogging," she told The National in Dubai on Thursday, during the launch of a report that charted the UAE's venture capital journey over the past decade.
The key components of supply chains "have drastically changed in the past four, five years – and that accelerates global supply chains even more", she said.
A 2023 study from Global Ventures found that start-ups had an "important role" in helping shape the future of supply chains and that they had only been "scratching the surface".
"Venture capital is expected to remain strong amid, and well beyond, the conflict," Ms Sweid said.
Talent for smaller companies and start-ups, meanwhile, is also expected to grow its in the UAE, owing to a business-friendly system that includes access to capital, infrastructure and other incentives. Regulations in the UAE are "very founder-focused to ensure that people can build companies ... so when founders go to build with the regulator on their side, they're able to scale faster", Ms Sweid said.
"Talent and opportunity are what attracts capital, and that will continue to accelerate," she added.
Venture capital is a class of equity financing in which investors typically provide funding to young entrepreneurs, start-ups and small businesses in exchange for an ownership stake. For business owners, it spares them from paying profit on bank loans, while enabling investors to hunt for high-growth, high-potential companies that could produce profit if they are sold or go public.
That is key in a country such as the UAE, where small and medium-size enterprises and start-ups are considered a backbone of the economy and comprise more than 90 per cent of businesses, government data shows.
Venture capital funding in the Emirates jumped 47 per cent year-on-year to $419 million in the first quarter of 2026, the highest level for such a period, with international investors continuing to account for the bulk of participation, start-up tracker Magnitt said.
The biggest venture capital providers in the UAE include Beco Capital, ADQ-backed Further Ventures, Middle East Venture Partners and sovereign wealth fund Mubadala. Organisations that offer assistance to start-ups include Abu Dhabi Startups, Hub71, Dubai Future Accelerators, Dubai SME, the Dubai Future District Fund and Dubai Internet City's in5.
The UAE government this month announced an extension of corporate tax relief for small businesses until 2029, a move that business owners and analysts said would help entrepreneurs tackle regional challenges and global headwinds.
"Regional geopolitical developments ... sent ripples through global and regional markets ... moments like these offer an opportunity to reflect on our foundations and assess our resilience," Abdulla bin Touq, UAE Minister of Economy and Tourism, said in the Global Ventures report. "For the venture system in the UAE, this period has underscored the depth of what the region has built."
