MENA focused VC fund Iliad Partners team up with Mexico’s Angel Ventures

Latin American venture capital (VC) firm Angel Ventures and Middle East and North Africa (MENA) focused VC Iliad Partners have launched a new global VC alliance that will make early-stage investments in emerging market startups.

The two VCs said in a joint statement yesterday that the South-South Venture Alliance (SSVA) will support entrepreneurs in the Latin America and MENA regions.

The strategic partnership, which aims to build regional champions in target verticals that evolve into global leaders in emerging markets, will see the two firms work closely on cross-regional investments.

South-South Venture Alliance focus verticals include fintech, mobility, proptech and ecommerce

The partnership will initially focus on common verticals including fintech and insurtech, mobility and transport, logistics, proptech and real estate tech, travel and hospitality, ecommerce and enabling ICT among others.

The VCs said they will pool their knowledge bases, resources and networks to:

• Make co-investments across geographies in jointly identified target verticals
• Mutually support their portfolio companies in these verticals
• Facilitate business development, global expansion and exit opportunities

The partnership will see the founder and managing partner of Dubai based Iliad Partners, Christos Mastoras, join Angel Ventures as a venture partner, while the founder and managing partner of Mexican based Angel Ventures, Hernan Fernandez Lamadrid, will join Iliad Partners’ global advisory council.

Lamadrid (pictured above, left) said the VC firms have identified significant similarities and comparable ecosystems between the two regions and among other emerging markets.

“Entrepreneurs and VCs in our parts of the world are trying to solve the same type of problems and founders face the same type of challenges, while we VCs are targeting similar sectors and business models in our respective geographies,” he added.

The South-South Venture Alliance founding members intend to expand it to include emerging markets like South East Asia.

The VCs said the alliance provides an opportunity for entrepreneurs to tap into a global knowledge base and highly experienced teams to get hands-on support for expansion across emerging markets.

Investors, the two firms added, are set to benefit from unique access to a broad investment platform, a diversified portfolio of global investment opportunities spanning two high-growth regions and a combined track record of global investments and operating experience.

Mastoras (pictured above, middle) said Iliad Partners has a lot to learn from comparable markets and its colleagues at Angel Ventures, but also lots to share from its experience in the MENA region.

“It has been 10 years since Maktoob was acquired by Yahoo in the first major exit in MENA, and since then major players like Uber and Amazon have entered the region.

“The MENA tech startup and VC spaces are now taking off and our partnership with Angel Ventures and the SSVA will enable us to invest in local winners at global scale and build the emerging market success stories of tomorrow,” he added.

Featured image, left to right: Angel Ventures founder and managing partner Hernan Fernandez Lamadrid, Iliad Partners founder and managing partner Christos Mastoras and Angel Ventures managing partner Camilo Kejner (Iliad Partners)