BY Venture Partners closes $60M Fund III and opens a European office in Lisbon
The early-stage firm, anchored by the Dubai Future District Fund, plans 40 investments from pre-seed to Series A and says two-thirds of its capital already goes to North America and Europe.
BY Venture Partners, an early-stage venture firm headquartered in Dubai, announced on Thursday 29 October the $60 million close of its third fund. The fund is anchored by the Dubai Future District Fund (DFDF).
The firm also said it has established a European office in Lisbon with two local investment hires. Fund III takes its total assets under management to more than $200 million.
The fund
According to Tech.eu and Entrepreneur Middle East, Fund III will mainly invest up to $1 million per company at pre-seed to Series A. Its focus is AI-native companies that reshape enterprise workflows and are built to serve international markets from the start.
Besides DFDF, investors include regional institutions, corporate venture arms and family offices, among them MultiLane, Transmed Capital and Saudi Arabia's Idriss Family Office.
The fund has already made 15 investments out of a planned portfolio of 40 companies. Named holdings include PQShield, Cosyne, Isometric, Huspy and Invisible.
A Middle East firm with a global mandate
The firm says it invests across more than 16 markets and that two-thirds of its capital has been deployed outside the Middle East and North Africa, in North America and Europe. Earlier funds backed companies including Onfido, PQShield, Huspy, NymCard, Toters and Invisible Technologies. The firm said its first two funds produced four companies that reached unicorn status. VCWire also reported the close.
All four partners, Ghaith Yafi, Abdallah Yafi, Rami Jisr and Sohrab Jahanbani, built and exited businesses before becoming investors, according to the firm.
Why Lisbon
Partner Sohrab Jahanbani said, as quoted by Tech.eu, that "European founders often face a barrier when bridging the gap to international capital and global commercial scale". He added that the goal of the Lisbon hub is to give ambitious European founders direct access to global networks, cross-border deployment opportunities and an operator-led team.
Founding Partner Ghaith Yafi told Tech.eu the firm is "particularly excited to invest more across Europe", naming Madrid, London, Paris and Berlin as hubs driving advances in AI-native software.
From the anchor investor's side, DFDF Managing Director Nader Albastaki told Entrepreneur Middle East that BY's model "works in both directions": it brings global AI-native companies into Dubai and takes founders from the region into international markets. DFDF lists BY Venture Partners on its portfolio page.
Why it matters for European founders and investors
Gulf capital has been a growing source of late-stage money for European tech. This fund shows that it is also moving into the earliest rounds, with a local team on the ground in Europe rather than investing only from a distance.
For pre-seed and seed founders, a $1 million maximum ticket means BY will usually be a co-investor or a lead in small rounds, not a sole source of capital. Its pitch is market access: founders who want customers or a second base in the Gulf may find that useful, and should ask how the firm has helped portfolio companies expand there.
For Portugal's ecosystem, another international investor with people in Lisbon adds to local deal flow and gives Portuguese founders easier access to a foreign fund. Also on Thursday, Belgium-based Entourage closed a €100 million Fund II for pre-seed and seed, a sign that early-stage fundraising in Europe remains active.
Founders should keep in mind that an anchor investor tied to a government economic agenda, in this case Dubai's D33 plan, may expect links back to Dubai. That is not a downside in itself, but it is worth understanding before taking the money.
What to watch next
Watch for the first European deals led from the Lisbon office, who the two local hires are, and whether BY follows Mistral- and Cohere-style sovereign AI themes or stays focused on enterprise workflow software.
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