INVESTING IN MENAT

Innovation is commonly known as the driver for economic growth. In developed countries, the first-movers with cutting-edge technologies generally reap the greatest returns. However, in emerging markets, like the one in MENAT, innovation is preceded by imitation technologies developed in other regions of the world, then contextualizing them to the local market.

In our case, MENAT, which is comprised of over 600 million people in 20 countries. These companies capitalize on second-mover advantages like, skipping phases of technological and market uncertainty, adapting technological uncertainties that fit a new or open market, and understanding regional and localized environmental changes to which outside incumbents cannot adapt. Capitalizing on the second-mover advantages make these companies first-movers in an untapped, nascent region. We consider startups with a repeatable and scalable business model a targeted need for the region.

In our first fund, Aris I, we intend to invest largely in promising second-mover startups with talented and agile founders pursuing to fill a gap in the local market. The MENAT region is moving into its growth phase as an ecosystem. One that is becoming more conducive to innovation.