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| Abu Dhabi |
The IT industry is the fastest-growing sector of the global economy. The industry has been at the vanguard of the global economy in recent years, fostering innovation and job creation. Companies in the field include Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google, which are among the most valued in the world. Corporations in the technology industry include Microsoft, one of the world's largest technology companies.
G42, an artificial intelligence business located in Abu Dhabi and supported by a major member of the oil-rich emirate's ruling family, is launching a $10 billion fund focused on technology investments in emerging economies.
The business will be founded in collaboration with the Abu Dhabi Growth Fund, which was established last year by the state-controlled ADQ. G42 and ADQ are both parts of a commercial empire supervised by Sheikh Tahnoon Bin Zayed, the UAE's national security adviser.
The G42 Expansion Fund will invest in late-stage growth firms that are developing revolutionary technologies. It will act as a private equity investor, with a large portion of its capital designated for high-growth areas in industries ranging from communications to intelligent mobility and renewables to healthcare.
The move comes as Abu Dhabi, one of the few cities in the world to oversee more than $1 trillion in sovereign wealth capital, ramps up attempts to reinvest oil cash in the technology industry and diversify its economy. Mubadala Investment Co., an Abu Dhabi-based wealth management firm that holds a minority share in G42, has stepped in to invest in the industry during a recent downturn.
G42, for its part, has spent the last year expanding its investment team with major appointments from Abu Dhabi sovereign funds. Silver Lake, a US private equity company, invested in the firm last year, and its co-Chief Executive Officer Egon Durban sits on its board. Durban said in a statement that the new fund "is a crucial milestone in the advancement of the UAE's technology industry."
Abu Dhabi Growth Fund, a G42 venture partner, primarily invests in private equity and venture capital. According to its website, the fund, led by Khalifa Al Suwaidi, a former chief investment officer of ADQ, has a "unique risk profile that complements the current Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth funds."
Technology Deals
Sheikh Tahnoon, the president's brother, has been at the forefront of many of Abu Dhabi's recent technological projects. His investments vary from Royal Group to ADQ, and both have recently committed funds to a new fund established by Rajeev Misra of SoftBank Group.
G42, an AI, and cloud computing firm, operates in industries ranging from energy to healthcare to autonomous cars. It created a joint venture with Beijing-based Sinopharm last year, marking the first time the Chinese coronavirus vaccine was manufactured outside of China.
"With the G42 Expansion Fund, we intend to accelerate our global impact not just via capital deployment, but also by offering our portfolio firms unique access to our networks, management, and operational assets," G42 CEO Peng Xiao said in a statement.
Peng Xiao will lead the new fund's investment committee, which will also include Al Suwaidi from the Abu Dhabi Growth Fund.
It was also the first Emirati corporation to create an office in Israel following the nations' normalization of relations in the so-called Abraham Accords, and it conducted the Middle East's first autonomous car experiments.