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The Innovative Startups and SMEs Fund (ISSF), Jordan's government-backed fund of funds, has invested $7 million in Endeavor Catalyst V, the fifth and largest fund raised by Endeavor's global co-investment vehicle.
ISSF was created in 2018 with $50 million from the World Bank and $48 million from the Central Bank of Jordan, with a mandate to make both direct and fund-of-funds investments across the Jordanian entrepreneurial ecosystem.
It’s a returning LP, having committed $2 million to Endeavor Catalyst III back in 2020, making this week's cheque a more than threefold increase on its previous publicly disclosed exposure.
Endeavor Catalyst is the rules-based co-investment fund of Endeavor, the global entrepreneur support network, and invests exclusively in companies founded by Endeavor Entrepreneurs, taking no board seats and never leading rounds.
Fund V follows the $292 million Catalyst IV closed in 2022, with TechCrunch reporting last year that the new vehicle was targeting $300 million, a close that would push the firm's total AUM past $800 million.
The model has compounded quietly into one of the most active venture portfolios in emerging markets: nearly 400 investments across 37 countries, around $70 million deployed across 50 new deals in 2025 alone, and a unicorn roster that spans Tabby in the UAE, Insider in Turkey, Flutterwave in Nigeria and Rappi in Colombia.
The Jordan connection has been having something of a moment of late. Endeavor Jordan, led by Tamer Al-Salah since mid-2025, in March selected Replit co-founders Amjad Masad and Haya Odeh as Endeavor Entrepreneurs, the network's first unicorn selection from Jordan and its 100th globally, weeks after Replit tripled its valuation to $9 billion.
ISSF framed the investment as more than capital, positioning it as a door-widener that connects Jordanian founders to Endeavor's global network of scale-up entrepreneurs and signals the Kingdom's attractiveness to international VC.
It also slots into a year in which Jordan's capital stack is being rebuilt layer by layer, with Oasis500's $20 million+ fourth fund at the early stage, and JCIF's $70 million Manara Ventures at growth.
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