Last February, e& rebranded as it sought to transform into a global technology investment conglomerate. Photo: E-Vision
Last February, e& rebranded as it sought to transform into a global technology investment conglomerate. Photo: E-Vision
Last February, e& rebranded as it sought to transform into a global technology investment conglomerate. Photo: E-Vision
Last February, e& rebranded as it sought to transform into a global technology investment conglomerate. Photo: E-Vision

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Technology

UAE's e& capital leads $5m funding round for Maxbyte to boost its expansion

Maxbyte, which offers Industry 4.0 solutions, has a presence in the automotive, defence, utilities and food and beverage sectors

Alkesh Sharma
Alkesh Sharma

August 22, 2023

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The UAE's e& capital – the investment unit of the global technology conglomerate e&, formerly known as Etisalat Group – has led a $5 million series A funding for Maxbyte, an Abu Dhabi-based technology firm.

The funding will boost Maxbyte’s expansion strategy, product development and further strengthen its solutions. It aims to expedite its growth by bolstering its sales team, refining the go-to-market strategy and partnerships and scaling projects across new geographies and industries, e& capital said in a statement on Tuesday.

“Maxbyte's innovative approach to automation technology positions it as an ideal partner for the Industry 4.0 revolution especially with its track record of success stories across the UAE, [the] US, SEA [South-east Asia] and India,” said Eddy Farhat, executive director of e& capital.

“This investment will further its mission to digitally transform and automate companies."

Maxbyte, which offers Industry 4.0 solutions, has a presence in the automotive, defence, utilities and food and beverage sectors. The company said it intended to enable smart connected industrial enterprise solutions for flexibility, productivity, predictable revenue and profit growth, as well as sustainability.

“This pivotal partnership accelerates our journey to spearhead technological evolution, fortify smart manufacturing and empower [the] UAE and global industries,” said Ramshankar CS, co-founder and chief executive of Maxbyte.

This month, e& capital led a $60 million series B funding for Airalo, an eSIM marketplace that aims to expand its global presence.

In October, e& launched a $250 million venture capital fund as part of e& capital to support the tech start-up ecosystem. The e& capital VC fund aims to attract, engage and support start-ups and provide them with access to investor and expert networks.

In February last year, e& rebranded as it sought to transform into a global technology investment conglomerate. The company provides digital solutions through its business pillars – Etisalat by e&, e& international, e& life, e& enterprise and e& capital.

E& enterprise is the exclusive distributor and system integrator of Maxbyte products in the UAE.

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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Based: Abu Dhabi

Sector: EdTech

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The specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo

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The specs

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Updated: August 22, 2023, 3:07 PM
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