/FOUNDERS FIRST

Led by founders,
backing the next

Early-stage capital from people who have built companies themselves. We back founders across North America, Europe and MENA, and stay close long after the round closes.

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/NEWS

Five members of the BY Venture Partners community standing together on stage

Fund III: $60M, anchored by DFDF. Backing AI-native founders, from UAE to the world.

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01 Investment Focus

( Our philosophy )

We champion people,
first and foremost.

We back founders we'd spend ten years with, solving problems big enough to matter. We invest early in ambitious founders building category-defining companies across North America, Europe and MENA, combining capital, experience and connections to help them grow beyond borders.

  • Investments113
  • Funds3
  • Unicorns4
  • Countries20
02 Explore Portfolio

( Our roots )

Global mindset,
deep roots in MENA.

We back ambitious founders globally, from pre-seed to exit. Deeply rooted in MENA, we help grow the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem through relationships with Mubadala and Dubai Future District Fund, and our stewardship of LAIN, the Lebanese Angel Investment Network.

  • North America(32 companies)
  • MENA(46 companies)
  • Europe(35 companies)
pemo logoPQShield logoRO logostake logovasco logoGratia logoIsometric logoJump logoMini Studio logoNymCard logoInvisible logo
03 Our Team

( Operators first )

We've been where you are.

Our partners have built 10 companies and taken 6 of them to exit. We know what a first senior hire really costs, how a bridge round feels from the inside, and when a market is telling you something you don't want to hear.

A founder in conversation across a table, seen through glass in low afternoon light
04 BY Accelerate

( Beyond capital )

Capital is only the beginning.

The founders we back become the ones who recommend us. Most new deals come through them, and some come back with their next company. Investment opens the relationship. Shared experience, trusted connections, community and practical knowledge are what carry a company forward from there.

  • Founder NPS87
  • Deals by referral60%

“BYVP was one of the very first funds I approached with my second startup. Having now worked with them for over six years, they have always delivered on opening up their network, generating leads and supporting in both the good and bad times.”

Husayn Kassai

Onfido · United Kingdom

01 / 08

BY Venture Partners Reaches $60 Million Close for Fund III to Accelerate Global AI-Native Startups from MENA Base

  • Anchored by the Dubai Future District Fund (DFDF), the founder-led firm expands total AUM to $200M to back early-stage founders transforming enterprise workflows through AI.
  • BY Venture Partners backed NymCard, Toters, Huspy and Invisible from Fund l and Fund ll

UAE - October 29th 2026 - BY Venture Partners, a global early-stage venture capital firm headquartered in the UAE, today announced the successful $60 million close of its third vehicle, Fund III. The fund is anchored by the Dubai Future District Fund (DFDF), with participation from established regional institutionals, corporate venture arms, and prominent family offices - including leading regional player in AI and high-speed data infrastructure Multi Lane, Transmed Capital, and the Idriss Family Office (KSA). Fund III expands BY Venture Partners’s total Assets Under Management (AUM) to over $200 million.

Empowering AI-Native Founders from a Regional Powerhouse

Fund III will invest primarily up to $1m at the Pre-Seed to Series A stages into AI-native companies that reimagine enterprise workflows and scale globally from day one.

Headquartered in the UAE, BY Venture Partners operates from a region embracing AI at pace. McKinsey’s November 2025 GCC survey found that 84% of organisations used AI in at least one business function, up from 62% in 2023. The firm invests across more than 16 international markets, with two-thirds of its capital deployed outside the MENA region across North America and Europe. Early momentum for Fund III is already underway, with 15 investments deployed to date out of a planned 40-company portfolio, including PQ Shield, Cosyne, Isometric, Huspy and Invisible.

"We are thrilled to officially announce Fund III today," said Ghaith Yafi, Founding Partner at BY Venture Partners. "The focus of this fund is to back AI-native companies with global ambitions. We are particularly excited about the opportunity to attract some of the world’s most innovative AI companies into the Middle East and connect them with the region’s rapidly growing technology ecosystem. We are executing on a thesis designed to generate strong, long-term returns for our partners.”

Institutional backing for regional impact

The anchor commitment from DFDF reinforces BY Venture Partners’s role in elevating the Middle East as a global tech hub and bridging regional capital with international deal flow.

"We committed to Fund III because BY's model works in both directions. It brings global AI-native companies into Dubai and takes founders from this region into international markets, and that exchange is what Dubai's Economic Agenda D33 asks of us. Ghaith, Abdallah, Rami, Sohrab and the team have built and exited companies themselves and have managed capital through a full market cycle. The flow of companies and founders across that bridge is the basis on which we will measure this partnership," said Nader Albastaki, Managing Director, Dubai Future District Fund (DFDF).

“We have been firm believers in BY Venture Partners since inception, and we are delighted to contribute to the firm's Fund III, to help back up-and-coming AI-first startups in the region,” said MultiLane Founder and CEO Fadi Daou. “As an ecosystem builder myself, as well as a former entrepreneur, BY’s vision fully aligns with ours.”

Rebuilding Ecosystems: The Lebanese Angel Investor Network (LAIN)

Rooted in a commitment to ecosystem building, BY Venture Partners won the MITAI-backed mandate to manage and operate the Lebanese Angel Investor Network (LAIN). LAIN connects global diaspora capital with early-stage Lebanese founders, creating a structured pipeline for early-stage capital and connecting the next generation of regional angel investors. Demonstrating its long-term commitment to ecosystem recovery, BY will reinvest 50% of its carried interest directly back into rebuilding the Lebanese startup ecosystem.

Built by Founders, for Founders

BY sets itself apart through its operator-first DNA: all four partners - Ghaith Yafi, Abdallah Yafi, Rami Jisr and Sohrab Jahanbani - are repeat entrepreneurs who built and exited businesses before joining forces as investors. This hands-on, founder-centric approach has earned BY Venture Partners a Founder Net Promoter Score of 87.

BY's track record has been built across more than one market cycle, including a full financial collapse in Lebanon, where Fund I carried significant exposure. That fund is still on course to return a strong multiple to its investors. The fund has had to adapt to fast-changing market conditions and has built a reputation for moving quickly to support founders in their most difficult and challenging days. Fund II continues to perform strongly relative to its vintage. Between them, the two funds have produced four unicorns, two from each, alongside a growing group of companies now valued in the hundreds of millions, and the firm has already returned meaningful capital to its LPs.

With Fund III, BY Venture Partners continues to leverage its global-first, AI-first network to give early-stage founders the operational edge, capital, and global connectivity required to build market-defining technology platforms.

END

About BY Venture Partners (BY Venture Partners)

BY Venture Partners is a founder-led, global venture capital firm headquartered in the UAE. BY Venture Partners backs ambitious founders at the earliest stages (Pre-Seed to Series A) with a founder-first, global-first, AI-first approach. Operating across 16+ international markets, the firm manages over $200 million in cumulative AUM and co-investment vehicles.

Website: www.byvp.com