Mubadala-backed G42 launches $10bn technology investment fund

New investment vehicle set up in partnership with Abu Dhabi Growth Fund will invest in late-stage growth companies with disruptive technologies

The G42 Smart Nation stand at an Abu Dhabi exhibition. Victor Besa / The National

Group 42, the Abu Dhabi-based artificial intelligence and cloud computing company, is launching a $10 billion fund that will invest in emerging technology in high-growth regions across the globe as it looks to expand its portfolio of investments.

G42, which counts Abu Dhabi’s sovereign fund Mubadala Investment Company and Silver Lake among its shareholders, is setting up the new investment vehicle in partnership with government-owned Abu Dhabi Growth Fund, G42 said in a statement on Thursday.

The G42 Expansion Fund, which will be managed by a subsidiary of G42, will focus on accelerating the pace of global innovation by investing in late-stage growth companies with disruptive technologies and strong business fundamentals.

“With the G42 Expansion Fund, we aim to accelerate our global impact not only through the deployment of capital, but also by providing unique access to our networks, management, and operational assets to our portfolio companies,” Peng Xiao, G42's chief executive, said.

The new fund will operate as a private equity investor, with a significant share of investment earmarked for high growth regions.

"In addition to providing investment support, G42 will leverage its operational assets and ecosystem of operating companies to accelerate value creation across the G42 Expansion Fund’s portfolio of investments," the company said.

The fund's investment priorities will cover technologies that have the potential "to shape the global economic landscape in the next decades".

It will invest across sectors including computing and communications technologies, intelligent mobility, clean technology and renewables, digital infrastructures, new materials, multiverses, FinTech, health care and life sciences.

“The G42 journey to date has been marked by success stories in a wide range of industries, addressing the most complex challenges faced by our customers," Mr Xiao, who is also chairman of the Growth Fund, said.

"With the foundation built by our operating businesses and support from our strategic partner ADG, the next era of G42 will be marked by our ability to turbocharge new ventures around the world."

The new fund will help G42 accelerate its global impact as the company is eager to engage with entrepreneurs who share its core values and growth ambitions.

"We are excited to be partnering with ADG to further cement Abu Dhabi as a global hub for innovation and progress,” Mr Xiao said.

G42, which owns and operates the world's 26th-most powerful supercomputer, is carrying out high-level fundamental and applied research into AI as well as developing cloud computing for the most demanding use cases.

In November 2020, Mubadala, became an investor in G42 by integrating its Injazat and Khazna Data Centres into the company. Last year, the Abu Dhabi company also secured a "substantial" investment from US-based private equity manager Silver Lake, whose managing partner and co-chief executive Egon Durban joined G42's board as part of the deal.

“As a growth focused investor, we are very pleased to have a technology investment partner in G42 that possesses deep knowledge of emerging technologies combined with the operational requirements for global growth and value creation," Khalifa Al Suwaidi, chief executive of Abu Dhabi Growth Fund, said.

The fund is an "excellent fit with our investment strategy", he added.

Group 42, chief executive Peng Xiao. Ruel Pableo / The National

G42's portfolio of companies includes G42 Healthcare, G42 Smart Nation, open data portal Bayanat, G42 Cloud, Injazat, Khazna, Presight, among others.

Earlier this month, G42 Healthcare joined forces with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to develop genomics, proteomics and biobanking services.

G42's health care subsidiary owns Biogenix Labs, the UAE’s first large-scale, throughput Covid-19 laboratory. It also arranged the 4Humanity clinical trials, the world’s first Phase 3 trial for a vaccine to fight against the coronavirus, with more than 43,000 volunteers taking part.

G42 also teamed up with Beijing-based Sinopharm in March 2021 to set up Hayat Biotech, a joint venture that makes Covid-19 vaccines in the UAE.

Last year, Mubadala partnered with G42 to set up a biopharmaceutical manufacturing campus in Abu Dhabi, to tap into global vaccine and therapeutic products.

In June this year, the UAE’s biggest telecom operator e& and G42 merged their data centre services under Khazna Data Centres to cater to increasing digital infrastructure requirements in the region. With the consolidation, Khazna now operates 12 data centres, making it the largest data centre provider in the Middle East and North Africa.