When TruKKer landed a $10 million venture debt facility from San Francisco–based Partners for Growth (PFG) back in 2020, it was the biggest facility ever raised by a MENA startup. Five years on, that milestone looks modest.
In the past 15 months alone, nearly $1 billion has been committed to new venture debt funds in the Gulf, touting “founder‑first” non‑dilutive capital:
Mar 2024: PFG, now a regional mainstay, secured $266 million from Jada Fund of Funds, marking the PIF-backed vehicle’s first-ever allocation to the asset class.
May 2024: Shorooq returned with its second $100 million venture debt fund.
Sep 2024: Ajeej Capital and Nuwa Capital teamed up to launch Amplify, a $100 million vehicle.
May 2025: STV unveiled a $100 million fund built around a new, Shariah-compliant instrument called NICE.
That same month: Amwal Capital Partners launched a $150 million Shariah-compliant private credit fund focused on asset-backed lending to tech-enabled platforms.
Jul 2025: India’s Stride Ventures planted flags in Abu Dhabi and Riyadh, closing the first tranche of a $250 million regional venture/growth debt fund.
For context, total venture‑debt issuance across MENA was just $60 million in 2020. In the first half of 2025 alone it hit $930 million.
According to Stride’s 2025 MENA Venture Debt Report, growth at this pace dwarfs global norms: while the worldwide venture‑debt market expanded at a 14 % CAGR over the past five years, the GCC clocked roughly 54 %, super‑charged by sovereign capital from Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
In the early days, venture debt arrived as occasional one‑off deals.
As Fariha Ansari Javed, Partner at Stride Ventures, told me:
“What we were seeing at the later stage, think Tabby and Tamara, was that when companies had a need for debt, it was Goldman Sachs or JPMorgan swooping in to pick it up.”
Data on the number of deals highlights the one-off, bespoke nature of past VD transactions.
In 2023, just ten deals accounted for nearly one‑third of total financing yet represented only 3% of overall deal volume. As the VC Valuation in MENA: A Reality Check report notes, “Venture debt deals of this size suggest that the companies raising the debt have significant market traction and have likely already completed Series B or C rounds.”
With the regional startup ecosystem reaching maturity, and more startups advancing to later stages and becoming eligible for VD, it’s not surprising that it is becoming a more entrenched part of the region’s financial infrastructure.
PFG alone has deployed $300 million across the Gulf since 2020, backing Tabby, TruKKer, Bayzat, Syarah, Huspy, and Silkhaus.
Newcomer Stride, meanwhile, has moved from scouting to planting roots: it already employs over 65 staff in India and has begun building a Gulf team in Abu Dhabi and Riyadh – four hires so far, with more on the way.
All of this begs the question we hinted at above: why now?
Why are new venture debt funds emerging across the Gulf, promising “founder‑first,” non‑dilutive capital? Who are the players rewriting the playbook? And what does it all mean for founders, investors, and LPs?
Many thanks to Fariha Ansari Javed, Partner at Stride Ventures, and Dunya Bashiti, Co‑founder & CEO of Capifly, for their time, insights, and valuable contributions to this piece.
The rise of venture debt, and non-dilutive financing more broadly in the Gulf hasn’t been driven by one single force, rather it’s been a convergence of macro, market, regulatory, and cultural shifts.
Here’s it boiled it down to five main drivers:
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