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Dubai-based telecom operator du has launched du Ventures, a $50 million venture capital fund aimed at investing in startups and emerging technologies aligned with its core telecom and digital services business.
The fund will be managed by Abu Dhabi-headquartered investment firm Shorooq, which will oversee deployment and portfolio strategy.
du’s only prior disclosed startup investment was in Anghami, the MENA music streaming platform that went public on Nasdaq in 2022.
The mandate adds another vehicle to a rapid expansion at Shorooq, which has amassed more than $1 billion in assets under management across venture capital, credit, private equity and real assets since its founding in 2017.
In September 2025, the firm launched the $100 million Presight-Shorooq Fund I, a global AI fund in partnership with G42's ADX-listed AI arm Presight, which deployed into five companies (Nodeshift, Candid, Hebbia, Blue, Crunched) within its first 120 days.
In February, Shorooq launched a $200 million late-stage growth fund backed by QIA at Web Summit Qatar, and participated in Yann LeCun's $1 billion AMI Labs seed round in March.
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