COTU Ventures

The Saudi Venture Capital & Private Equity Association welcomes its newest corporate partner, COTU Ventures ! ✨ The company aims to empower and support entrepreneurs and startups throughout the Middle East by providing essential early-stage funding and facilitating their rapid growth and expansion.

I was dead nervous. And the investor’s first words stunned me, “What’s your favourite childhood memory?” Me: “F**k, what?” I remember thinking “I better crack this” – because this wasn’t just an investor pitch, there was no plan B, I had to get this right. And he walks in and throws this curveball. I told him. The next hour was a blur –– Amir Farha and I didn’t talk business at all; instead, we talked about me and my childhood. Before I knew it, an hour had passed. Me: “Our hour’s over. You probably need to leave.” Amir: “No I have time. Now tell me about Kingpin, how’s the business doing?” Me: “Do you want the truth or do you want me to respond in the way a founder would to a VC?” Amir: “The truth.” I told him everything. And he grilled me; the questions were tough, deep, and intricate. But by the end, we trusted each other. He then got up, gave me a high five, leaned in for a hug, and said: “I’ll be your lead investor. We’ll discuss the valuation terms later. But I’m backing you.” All I could think now was, “I trust this guy completely.” Since then, we’ve built layers upon layers of trust on top of that first meeting – back then, Kingpin was just a dream, today, we have onboarded 200+ brands, and 4000 buyers across 75 countries…. and we’re just getting started. There’s a long way to go still. So much more to do. But through the years, the ups and downs, the one constant has been our relationship. And it all started with that initial conversation. That’s all it takes sometimes…. to build a strong partnership. For two people to lead with trust: me, a scrappy but imperfect 20-something-year-old with nothing to lose. Him, to see beyond just the numbers, and see not who I was then. But who I could become. Thanks Amir, COTU Ventures is exactly the kind of investor every founder needs in their corner. 👊🏾

Excited to announce that we've been selected to attend the 2024 RAISE Global Summit in San Francisco this week, where we'll be doing our best to represent MENA VC 🙏🏼 🚀 https://lnkd.in/dAG45KGb #RAISEGlobalSummit #EmergingManagers #VentureCapital

After taking nearly 3 months off to reset and recharge, I’m thrilled to be joining COTU Ventures in Dubai as a Venture Partner. My new role will focus on leading our Value Creation arm, working closely with our incredible founders to support and accelerate their growth across our portfolio. The break has been invaluable, offering time to reflect and come back with fresh energy. I’m very much looking forward to working alongside Amir Farha and the entire COTU team as we embark on this exciting journey together.

I rarely have conversations like this one, let alone post about it. Thank you Kyane for creating this space, asking thoughtful questions, sharing perspectives and for an all-round awesome discussion. Appreciate the care you put into this and all the work you do 🙏🏻

The sixth episode of Rally Cap VC's podcast is out 🗣️🎙️🔊 Amir Farha is a prominent figure in MENA VC, managing the largest solo-GP fund in the region [$54m]. He previously co-founded the first and largest early-stage VC firm in the Middle East [BECO Capital, $500m AUM]. Timestamps: (1:49) Building a second VC firm (3:02) What does 'strong founder' even mean? (4:29) Investing in underdogs (6:15) Aren't we all improvising? (7:05) The evolution of Amir 1.0, Amir 2.0, Amir 3.0 (11:18) Aren't VCs just monetizing access? (13:26) Raising $50m as a solo-GP (15:16) KSA/UAE/Egypt, too many startups, beyond the VC model (17:57) Unconventional founder moves in nascent markets (20:34) Unhealthy obsession: psychological cost of succeeding in VC?

Episode 6 of Rally Cap VC's podcast is dropping next week, featuring Amir Farha, founder of COTU Ventures. Amir is a prominent figure in MENA VC, having co-founded BECO Capital in 2012, the first and largest early-stage VC firm in the region [~$500m AUM]. In 2020, he shocked the industry by parting ways with the flagship firm and going solo. With no surprise, he was able to raise MENA's largest solo-GP fund [$54m]. The track record is stellar: early in Careem [$3b acq. by Uber], Property Finder [unicorn], Fresha [$100m SeriesC led by General Atlantic], and now Huspy [$34m SeriesA] among others. Most importantly, Amir is a genuine soul. Zen and introspective, his character is reflected in his human-centric investing approach.