A MENA focused Investment fund from Hambro Perks

Ivo Detelinov has been in Saudi Arabia since late 2013, when he joined Riyad Capital in Riyadh to set up their alternative investments group with a focus on Venture Capital. Prior to that he was in the Financial Sponsors Group of Merrill Lynch for 10 years in New York and London.

Ivo was the Senior Portfolio Manager at Riyad TAQNIA Fund (RTF) which is a $130m VC fund ($65m equity + $65m government-guaranteed debt facility) launched in 2015, focused on post-revenue Seed and Series A investments.

Ivo and his associates have largely been seen as the “architects” of the venture asset class in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and has helped shape many Saudi VC programs.
In 2018, RTF was part of the largest GCC Series A when Saudi-based cloud communication start-up Unifonic closed a $21 million Series A funding round.

In 2019, RTF was also part of the new largest GCC Series A – in logistics tech company TruKKer, which raised $23 million. RTF is the largest shareholder in TruKKer and first invested in 2017 at a valuation of $4 million.

Ivo was previously on the boards of Beehive (the first MENA P2P lender), TruKKer and Souqalmal (the first MENA insurance comparison platform, in which Go Compare UK has also invested). Ivo and his RTF team had brought these 3 companies from their home base in Dubai, UAE into Saudi Arabia, thereby significantly increasing their growth prospects and valuations.

He is a CFA charter holder and an MBA in Finance from Stern School of Business at NYU.

Ali is a Managing Director at Hambro Perks and focuses on sourcing investment opportunities, executing new investments and portfolio management, focusing in particular on the MENA region. He also focuses on strategic partnerships and international expansion opportunities for portfolio companies.

Ali started his career in consulting at EY where he worked on complex corporate finance challenges for clients across the MENA region. He is also a former debt capital markets investment banker in the GCC advising on various landmark conventional and Islamic debt transactions & working with various entities of a Gulf sovereign for transactions of national importance.

Ali serves as Hambro Perks’ investor director on the board of Odondo and investor observer on the board of WeVat and has led transaction negotiation and execution for various new and follow-on Hambro Perks investments, including Muzmatch, WeVat and Sarwa. Ali is an Omani & GCC national, speaks three languages and holds a master’s degree from University College London.

Syrine joined the Oryx Fund in June 2021 and is based full-time in our Abu Dhabi office. She focuses on sourcing investment opportunities, executing new investments, and portfolio management.

Syrine previously worked at EQ2 Ventures as an Investment Associate. During her two-year tenure, she focused on screening, selecting, and assessing emerging technology start-ups based in the MENA region. Prior to EQ2 Ventures, Syrine worked as a Private Equity Analyst at Rothschild.

Syrine holds a bachelor’s in economics & management and a master’s in finance from Université Paris Dauphine.

Syrine is fluent in three languages: English, Arabic, and French.

Zain Daya leads on Investor Relations and Operations at Hambro Perks Oryx Fund based at of the Abu Dhabi office.

Prior to the Oryx Fund, Zain was working at Endeavor Lebanon as an account manager on the Entrepreneur Selection & Growth team where she was evaluating scale ups in the local economy, onboarding them to the wider network, and managing their portfolio.

Zain was involved with several key initiatives that have helped shape the growing tech ecosystem in the region, including the launch of “Summer of Innovation”, a government- led programme designed to strengthen and promote entrepreneurial efforts in Lebanon.

Zain holds a BSc degree from Northeastern University in Boston and a MSc from Imperial College London.

Natasha Abu Khader joined Hambro Perks Oryx Fund as an Analyst based out of the Abu Dhabi office.

Prior to joining the Oryx Fund, Natasha was working at Beyond Capital with a focus on finance entrepreneurs. Natasha mainly worked on Beyond Capital’s fund of funds program and the ifada Innovation Finance Fellows program which aims to graduate innovative and empathetic fund managers and finance entrepreneurs. Natasha was also part of the Endeavor Jordan team as an Entrepreneur Selection & Growth Associate where she managed and supported companies’ journeys to scale.

Before joining Beyond Capital, Natasha worked as an audit associate at EY Jordan with a main focus on banking and financial services.

Natasha holds a BSc. (Hons) degree from the University of Bristol in Economics and Finance.

Peter is Group General Counsel and Company Secretary at Hambro Perks. Having practised law for more than 18 years, Peter has an in-depth understanding of the asset management industry, from the structuring and establishment of investment products through to their continuing operations, providing incisive, practical and comprehensive legal, compliance and regulatory advice. With lengthy periods in both private practice and in industry, Peter has developed a keen understanding of the private equity and venture capital landscape enabling him to serve the needs and expectations of investors as well as investor-backed businesses and early-stage businesses seeking investment.

Prior to joining Hambro Perks, Peter served as General Counsel to leading mid-market private equity funds focused on providing investment capital for the acquisition and operational turnaround of underperforming companies. To complement his special interest in providing private equity and venture capital to tech-enabled businesses with high-growth potential, Peter had been supporting and investing alongside private equity and venture capital funds and their portfolio companies, providing tailored governance solutions, structuring and transactional support, advice in connection with exit planning, buy-side and sell-side due-diligence, assistance with investor selection and bid evaluation.

Peter gained much of his experience at leading international law firms CMS and Pinsent Masons. His experience spans the broad spectrum of corporate activity with a particular focus on the formation, structuring and management of alternative investment funds, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate restructurings and workout initiatives. This has included complex multi-jurisdictional corporate transactions, numerous acquisitions and disposals, turnarounds and reorganisations.

Peter also serves as Hambro Perks’ investor director on the board of HP Insurtech Gateway Limited, director of Hambro Perks Asset Management Limited, Gateway Fund GP Limited, Access Fund GP Limited and Hambro Perks Ventures GP Limited, a partner and member of the executive committee of Hambro Perks Advisory LLP.

Rana Nawas will be joining the Oryx Fund Advisory Committee as of June 2021.

Rana Nawas is a corporate veteran turned speaker and podcaster, on a mission to help women win. She does this through inspiring keynotes, strategic advisory and her podcast, When Women Win – a show where female role models from diverse backgrounds share their inspirational stories and practical tools for success.

Rana’s 17-year corporate career spanned McKinsey & Company’s London Office, the Dubai Government, and GE Capital in various strategy and sales roles.

Emon Shakoor is a Saudi neuroscience researcher turned venture capitalist. She is the founder & CEO of Blossom Accelerator; MENA’s first & leading tech-inclusion accelerator and a Venture Partner at the Hambro Perks Oryx Fund. She serves as an advisory board member at Oqal; Saudi’s largest angel investment group. Emon hosts the leading podcast in Arabic titled “شغف” dedicated to women leaders & female founders in partnership with Anghami. Emon has been recognized as one of nine Saudi women who has made an impact on the world as she is the pioneer of women entrepreneurship and inclusive innovation in KSA. NEOM has recognized her as one of five Saudi’s driving change in Saudi Arabia and the world. She was chosen as part of the Under 30 delegates to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos Switzerland at just 24 and she remains to be the youngest Saudi woman to make the cover of both Entrepreneur Middle East and Harper’s Bazaar Arabia as an entrepreneur and investor.