Dubai, UAE –May 2026 – SHUAA Capital psc (DFM: SHUAA), a pioneer in regional
financial services with a history spanning over four decades, and Key Capital Ltd, the
region’s first dedicated venture capital secondaries asset manager, today announced
a strategic partnership to support the development of the venture capital secondaries
market across MENA and EMEA.
Key Fund I LP targets a fund size of USD 50 million and pursues a disciplined
secondaries strategy focused on acquiring positions in high-growth technology
companies through off-cap-table transactions. The strategy is designed to provide
liquidity to early shareholders while enabling a differentiated entry point into scaled
assets, with the objective of delivering accelerated distributions and diversified
portfolio exposure. The fund has successfully closed two transactions to date and is
structured as an ADGM Limited Partnership.
The partnership comes at a pivotal moment for the MENA venture capital ecosystem.
Annual VC deployment across the region has grown from USD 1.1 billion in 2020 to
USD 3.8 billion in 2025, according to Magnitt. As venture capital deployment in MENA
has accelerated, liquidity pathways have not kept pace, creating a structural need for
dedicated secondary solutions. This dynamic is creating a maturing pipeline of
technology assets and an expanding pool of founders, early shareholders and
investors seeking secondary liquidity. Key Capital estimates the regional secondaries
market at over USD 1 billion and growing. Against this backdrop, global secondaries
transaction volume reached a record USD 240 billion in 2025, according to Jefferies,
underscoring the asset class’s increasing relevance to institutional allocators
worldwide.
Under the terms of the partnership, SHUAA Capital will provide advisory support
across capital formation, strategic relationships and capital markets execution,
leveraging its institutional platform to complement Key Capital’s specialized secondary
strategy, sourcing network and investment discipline.
Nabil Al Rantisi, Group CEO of SHUAA Capital, commented: “The MENA venture
capital market has reached an inflection point, and the secondaries segment
represents one of the most compelling and structurally underserved opportunities in
the region today. Key Capital brings a highly specialized team with a proven track
record and a clear first-mover advantage, and we are delighted to partner with them.”
Basil Moftah, Managing Partner of Key Capital, commented: “Key Capital is built on
the conviction that MENA’s venture ecosystem has matured faster than its liquidity
infrastructure. The time has come for a regional secondary strategy, providing a
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dedicated liquidity layer, supporting early stakeholders with structured exit pathways
while enabling investors to access high-quality technology assets at a more balanced
entry point. SHUAA Capital’s institutional platform and regional reach will enhance our
ability to scale this strategy and broaden access to the asset class as we approach
our first close.”
About SHUAA Capital
SHUAA Capital psc is a pioneer in regional financial services, established in 1979 and listed on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM: SHUAA). Licensed and regulated by the UAE Capital Market Authority (CMA), SHUAA provides a broad range of financial services including investment banking, asset management, and capital markets solutions across the MENA region. With a platform built on decades of institutional expertise and deep regional relationships, SHUAA Capital serves a diverse base of institutional, corporate and high-net-worth clients across the GCC and beyond.
About Key Capital
Key Capital Ltd is MENA’s first dedicated venture capital secondaries asset manager regulated by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). The firm was founded by an operator-led team with over 29 years of collective investment experience,combining specialist expertise in venture capital secondaries structuring and execution with broad coverage of technology companies across the MENA region. Key Capital is the first fund manager
in the region dedicated exclusively to the venture capital secondaries strategy.
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