• Innovative Startups and SMEs Fund (ISSF) has invested $1.5 million in UAE-based Global Ventures, a venture capital fund that invests in high-growth startups in the Middle East, Africa as well as globally.
• Most recently, Global Ventures led a $4.5 million funding round for Egypt's B2B marketplace Cartona.

Press release 

The Innovative Startups and SMEs Fund (ISSF) - the largest investment fund of its kind in Jordan – announces a direct investment of USD 1.5 million in Global Ventures; a Dubai-based growth-driven venture capital firm focused on growth-stage enterprise technology investments across the Middle East and Africa.

The investment, which was completed in December, underscores the commitment of the ISSF to empowering promising Jordanian startups to advance the local entrepreneurial landscape and the national economy at large.

ISSF General Manager, Laith Al Qasem, commented: “By investing in progressive funds like Global Ventures, we are actively supporting aspiring startups and SMEs to scale their businesses, enhance their operations and achieve their growth potentials, ultimately giving rise to a dynamic entrepreneurial scene and prompting robust economic development across Jordan and beyond.”

Global Ventures General Partner, Basil Moftah, stated: “We are thrilled to welcome the ISSF as a partner into Global Ventures’ Fund II. Jordan is a regional pioneer of entrepreneurship, with SME support programs and investments dating to the 1980s, and is a center for some of the region’s strongest businesses and founders. GlobalVentures aligns with the ISSF mission of transforming the local and regional entrepreneurial ecosystems into global hubs for technology and innovation.”

The ISSF is registered as a Jordanian private shareholding company.  Its objectives are to support and elevate Jordan’s entrepreneurial and innovation landscape by facilitating the establishment of new investment funds serving the ecosystem; making direct investments in innovation, export-oriented and scalable local startups; plus implementing initiatives to improve the capabilities of Jordanian entrepreneurs and startup teams via training, capacity building and targeted incubation and acceleration programs.