Investing in MENA Startups & VCs

Sharif El-Badawi is the CEO of Dubai Future District Fund (DFDF) — an evergreen venture fund-of-funds and direct-investment vehicle backed by the emirate of Dubai. The mandate is unusual: DFDF invests both in startups directly and in the VC funds that finance them, using its capital to deepen and professionalise the region's entire venture stack.

Before DFDF, Sharif spent years inside the global venture ecosystem — including at Google, where he worked closely with VCs and startups — and co-founded 500 Startups' MENA presence. That vantage point across Silicon Valley and the Arab world shapes how he reads the gaps in MENA funding: not enough early-stage risk capital, too few experienced fund managers, and founders who still travel abroad for capital they should be able to raise at home.

The conversation digs into how a sovereign-linked, evergreen structure changes incentives versus a traditional ten-year fund, what DFDF looks for when it backs a first-time fund manager, and why building the supply of capital is as important as backing individual companies if the region wants its own durable startup engine.