UAE-based venture firm Crescent Enterprises has launched a $68 million investment programme to expand its venture-building arm, CE-Creates, part of a broader push to scale homegrown startups into international businesses.
The move comes alongside the appointment of Rakhil Fernando as Head of CE-Creates, signalling a more aggressive build-out of the platform.
CE-Creates operates as a sector-agnostic venture studio, providing early operational support and patient capital to turn young companies into scalable ventures. Its existing portfolio includes Kava & Chai, ION, and BreakBread.
The new capital will be used to expand the platform’s venture-building capacity, deepen operational infrastructure, and support more startups through its pipeline. CE-Creates uses a stage-gated model, moving from validation to scale-up, aimed at reducing execution risk and improving product-market fit.
Rakhil Fernando’s appointment brings founder-side and venture studio experience. He previously led Yabi, founded Koko under Alibaba Group, and was Managing Director at Daraz.
