Qatar Investment Authority will expand its venture capital fund-of-funds programme by $2 billion, Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said on Sunday.
Speaking at the opening of Web Summit Qatar, the prime minister said the expansion builds on Qatar’s existing $1 billion Fund of Funds, launched in February 2024 to attract international venture firms to Doha and channel capital into local and regional startups.
The initiative is part of a broader push to diversify the economy away from gas revenues. Sheikh Mohammed said the programme has already supported more than 12 startups operating in Doha.
Qatar will also introduce a 10-year residency programme for entrepreneurs, investors, senior executives and skilled employees, mirroring long-term visa schemes introduced by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to attract global talent.
In parallel, the government is increasing incentives for company formation by eight times and granting startups access to high-performance cloud computing credits, targeting AI and compute-intensive companies.
Qatar has historically lagged its Gulf peers in startup formation and venture activity, but QIA’s fund-of-funds strategy has begun to materially shift the landscape.
Since the programme’s launch, several global venture firms have already established offices in Doha following QIA backing, including Builders VC, Utopia Capital Management, B Capital, Deerfield, and Human Capital. These followed an earlier allocation to Qatar-based Rasmal Ventures.
Silicon Valley-based Builders VC, which is targeting $400 million for its third fund, established its Doha presence under Tarik Sultan. The firm focuses on applying technology to traditional sectors such as healthcare, industrials, real estate and agriculture.
Utopia Capital Management has also established a Doha headquarters and has already deployed capital locally via its MENA+ fund A-Typical Ventures, most recently backing Saudi-based data governance startup Governata. In parallel, Utopia has also launched UTOPIA Studio, a venture builder designed to incubate and scale new companies from the region, complementing its growth-stage investing across Africa, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. The firm is led by Alina Truhina and Roo Rogers.
Multi-stage investor Human Capital launched its first international office in Doha, led by Pradeep Desu, formerly of Uber and Gojek, with a mandate focused on leadership, talent and organisational scaling for high-growth companies.
Singapore- and US-based B Capital, alongside healthcare-focused Deerfield, have also established local operations, reinforcing Qatar’s focus on deeptech, healthcare and industrial innovation that typically requires longer-term, patient capital.
