The Capital Quest | Dubai VC firm VentureSouq recruits former Sary CFO as general partner

On Oct 21, 2022

Dubai-based venture capital firm VentureSouq has appointed a former top executive from regional B2B marketplace Sary as its general partner.

Musaab Hakami, who was earlier the chief financial officer at Sary, joined VentureSouq in July.

VentureSouq backs early-stage tech startups in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. According to its website, the venture capital firm has so far invested in more than 180 companies,

Established in 2016, VentureSouq has operations in the UAE, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. It is led by founding partners Suneel Gokhale, Sonia Gokhale, Tammer Qaddumi and Sonia Weymuller. Its leadership team also includes Maan Eshgi as partner in Saudi Arabia.

Some of the best-known startups in VentureSouq’s portfolio are Sary, Clara, Huspy, Mamo Pay, Opontia, Oxygen, Rain and Tabby.

The VC firm led Sary’s Series B round in May last year and then joined the Series C round in December last year.

According to Pitchbook, VentureSouq has struck 22 exits so far. Some if its best-known exits include Kitopi, CSPA and Scanwell.

According to his Linkedin profile, Hakami is a computer engineering graduate from the King Saud University and had joined Sary as CFO and chief commercial officer in Saudi Arabia in June 2020 before being made the group CFO in August last year.

According to his profile, he has been an investor in some of the MENA region’s leading startups including Sarwa, MicroAcquire, Sivo, Rain, erad, Nemo, Pluto, Nearpay, Funding Souq and Trteeb.