Al Waha Fund of Funds
Run by Al Waha Fund of Funds (managed by Bahrain Development Bank)
A USD 100m fund-of-funds that backs venture capital funds, not startups directly — the reason many regional VCs write cheques in Bahrain.
- Ticket size
- No direct cheque to founders — invests into VC funds
- Equity taken
- Not applicable — you raise from their portfolio funds instead
- Realistic timeline
- Not applicable to founders; use it as a map of who to pitch
About Al Waha Fund of Funds
Launched 2018 — USD 100 million fund of funds
Al Waha is a USD 100 million fund of funds established to invest in venture capital funds active in Bahrain and the wider region. It does not invest directly in startups; instead it anchors the funds that do, and has helped bring a significant pool of VC capital within reach of MENA founders.
Mission
To catalyse the venture capital ecosystem in Bahrain and the region by investing in high-quality VC funds.
Purpose
Solve the ecosystem's real bottleneck — the shortage of active investors — by putting institutional money behind fund managers, so that founders in the region have more credible cheques to raise from.
What others say about them
Praise and caveats drawn from published coverage and the organisations' own public material. Every point links to its source so you can read it yourself.
Credited with
A $100m fund-of-funds credited with pulling regional VC managers into Bahrain, which indirectly widens the pool of investors able to back Bahraini startups.
Building a dynamic venture capital community in MENA ↗Worth knowing
Al Waha invests in funds, not in startups. Founders cannot apply — the useful move is to identify which VCs it backs and approach those directly.
Al Waha investment strategy ↗What it actually is
- •A fund-of-funds: it puts money into venture capital funds, and those funds invest in startups.
- •Launched to deepen the pool of VC capital available in and around Bahrain rather than to run its own deals.
- •For a founder, its real value is the published list of funds it backs — that is your regional target list.
Who it's for
- •Founders who are already raising a seed or Series A and want to know which funds are active in the region.
- •Anyone mapping the investor landscape before starting a raise.
What they really look for
- •Nothing from you directly — the funds they back set their own criteria.
- •Their portfolio funds typically look for traction, a strong team and regional scalability.
What the process looks like
- 1
Read the portfolio
1 dayIdentify which of their backed funds match your stage and sector.
- 2
Get a warm introduction
2–6 weeksRoute through an accelerator, angel or an existing portfolio founder.
- 3
Pitch the fund directly
2–6 monthsStandard VC process with the fund, not with Al Waha.
What founders wish they'd known
- →Emailing Al Waha with a pitch deck goes nowhere — they do not invest in companies.
- →Their portfolio page is one of the highest-value free resources for a Bahrain-based founder raising money.
- →Several of their funds are regional, so being Bahrain-registered can be an advantage in their allocation.
What gets you rejected
- ×Approaching them as a direct investor — that is not what they do.
Documents to have ready
- Pitch deck (for the funds you approach)
- Cap table
- Financial model
- Data room basics
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