Chimera Capital’s $10Bn Alpha Wave Ventures II
Abu Dhabi investment firm Chimera Capital launches Alpha Wave Ventures II focusing on financial tech, artificial intelligence, life sciences, consumer internet, and B2B
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Abu Dhabi investment firm Chimera Capital Ltd (Chimera Capital) said on Tuesday it closed its second venture capital (VC) fund at $10Bn, as it looks to find multi-million dollar opportunities in "growth-stage" companies. The new fund, Alpha Wave Ventures II, will focus on financial tech, artificial intelligence, life sciences, consumer internet, and business to business sectors the team shared in a statement.
Chimera Capital is an Abu Dhabi-based asset management firm enabling investors with unique and innovative investment offerings. The firm structures innovative investment instruments with a primary focus on the alternative asset management space. As a dedicated team with decades of experience in private investments and a proven track record in delivering above-market returns, Chimera Capital is a firm believer in the potential of MENA asset classes with a particular focus on the GCC.
The Abu-Dhabi-based firm has taken part in Kitopi’s $415M Mega Deal at the beginning of 2021, boosting the F&B space in MENA and driving the region’s 132% funding growth Year over Year. As recorded in our Startup Funding- 2022 Emerging Venture Markets Free Report, it was 12 Mega Deals ($100M+) in 2021 that raised the bar for major funding rounds across Emerging Venture Markets. Surely, a few weeks into the new year, MENA-based crypto startup Rain, as well as Turkey-based Dream Games both raised their own Mega Rounds with more blockbusters currently brewing in the pipeline. The drive towards later-stage deals reflected on average Series A rounds in MENA as recorded in our 2022 MENA Venture Investment Report, where the average Series A round in 2021 officially surpassed the $10M mark.
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The $10Bn fund is co-managed with U.S. alternative asset manager Alpha Wave Global, formerly known as Falcon Edge Capital."Put them together, and you have a large fund that can basically invest on a larger scale in basically growth stories," said Karim Radwan, Chimera Capital's chief investment officer. Limited partners in the VC fund are all local and regional investors, Radwan said, declining to name them. He added that the fund will invest between tens of millions and up to $100 million in growth-stage companies, typically between series A and pre-initial public offering (IPO).
Chimera Capital is owned by Chimera Investments LLC, which is part of Royal Group, an Abu Dhabi investment firm chaired by Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the United Arab Emirates' national security adviser and a brother of its de facto ruler, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed. Its first fund, Chimera Global Fund I, closed in October at $75 million with participation from Mubadala Capital, a unit of Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Company. Chimera Investments seeded the fund with $25 million. Its investments include U.S. education tech company Course Hero, Egyptian transport tech firm Swvl and Indian fintech firm Zeta. Alpha Wave Ventures II will aim for a return between three and five times, with companies lower in that range the closer they are to an initial public offering, Radwan said. "So, kind of risk-adjusted. So obviously the earlier companies have a higher return, but they have obviously, associated with it, a higher risk."
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