ANAVA Fund of Funds Announces $4 Million Investment in Rasmal Innovation Fund
ANAVA, a fund of funds supported by the World Bank, CDC, and KFW, has announced its commitment to invest $4 million in the Rasmal Innovation Fund, managed by Rasmal Ventures. This investment is part of a strategy to attract international investors to the Tunisian startup ecosystem and support these startups in their financing and global growth.
About Rasmal Innovation Fund I
Rasmal Innovation Fund I is a venture capital fund for the MENA region, focusing on early-stage startups in FinTech, B2B SaaS, HealthTech, logistics, and supply chain, with the goal of strengthening the region's digital infrastructure. The fund is led by an experienced venture capital team, including Tunisian Soumaya Ben Beya Dridje, Alexander Wiedmer, Dr. Shaikha Al Jabir, and Angus Paterson. Rasmal Innovation Fund I is the first fund selected to benefit from the Qatar Investment Authority's $1 billion venture capital program, aiming to raise a total of $100 million, with a first close of $30 million already achieved.
Investment in Aqua Development
Rasmal Innovation Fund I has also announced its investment in Aqua Development, a Tunisia-born and globally-focused company co-founded by Othman Ben Abbes.
About ANAVA Fund of Funds
ANAVA is the first Tunisian fund of funds denominated in euros, constituting a central pillar of the national initiative Startup Tunisia, which aims to position Tunisia as a hub for innovation and startups in the Mediterranean, MENA region, and Africa. With a target size of €100 million, including a first close of €40 million subscribed by the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC) thanks to a loan from the World Bank, and €20 million subscribed by KFW, the fund aims to give partner funds the capacity to invest in Tunisian startups, both in Tunisia and abroad, to meet their growth and internationalization needs. The fund is managed by Smart Capital, a company approved by the Financial Market Council (CMF), mandated by the Tunisian government to lead the national Startup Tunisia program.
About Rasmal Ventures
Rasmal Ventures is the first independent venture capital fund in Qatar, with a strong presence and extensive network in the MENA innovation ecosystem. Based in Doha, with an office in Saudi Arabia, the company adopts a highly selective investment approach, prioritizing exclusive opportunities that stimulate innovation and sustainable growth. Rasmal Innovation Fund I, the company's first fund launched in June 2024, targets investments in promising technological startups at the pre-Series A, Series A, and Series B stages, across the MENA region and beyond, with a flexible and multisectoral strategy.
About Aqua Development
Aqua Development is a startup co-founded in Tunisia, with a dual headquarters in Tunisia and Korea. It combines biotechnology, artificial intelligence, and design engineering to develop shrimp aquaculture systems that offer remarkable productivity, sustainability, and economic competitiveness, without the use of antibiotics or polluting chemicals. Aqua Development's systems are based on the imitation and exploitation of natural ecosystems within farms, recreating and reconstituting different balances of microfauna and microflora in aquaculture ponds.
