In an exciting development for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) financial landscape, SHUAA Capital, a longstanding leader in regional financial services, has announced a strategic partnership with Key Capital Ltd, the region's first dedicated venture capital secondaries asset manager. This alliance aims to invigorate the venture capital secondaries market across MENA and the broader EMEA region.

The collaboration is anchored on Key Fund I LP, which targets a fund size of USD 50 million. This fund is focused on a disciplined secondaries strategy, acquiring positions in high-growth technology companies through off-cap-table transactions. Such a strategy not only provides liquidity to early shareholders but also offers a unique entry point into scaled assets, with the goal of delivering accelerated distributions and diversified portfolio exposure.

The timing of this partnership is particularly noteworthy. According to Magnitt, annual venture capital deployment across the MENA region has surged from USD 1.1 billion in 2020 to USD 3.8 billion in 2025. However, this rapid growth has not been matched by the development of liquidity pathways, highlighting a critical need for dedicated secondary solutions. Key Capital estimates the regional secondaries market to be over USD 1 billion and growing, while global secondaries transaction volume reached a record USD 240 billion in 2025, as reported by Jefferies.

Under the terms of the partnership, SHUAA Capital will offer advisory support in capital formation, strategic relationships, and capital markets execution. This will complement Key Capital's specialized secondary strategy, sourcing network, and investment discipline. Nabil Al Rantisi, Group CEO of SHUAA Capital, remarked that the MENA venture capital market is at an inflection point, with the secondaries segment representing a compelling and underserved opportunity in the region. Basil Moftah, Managing Partner of Key Capital, added that the MENA venture ecosystem has matured faster than its liquidity infrastructure, making it an opportune time for a regional secondary strategy.

For investors, this partnership represents a promising opportunity. The strategic alignment between SHUAA Capital and Key Capital leverages decades of expertise and a pioneering approach to investing, which could potentially yield significant returns. However, given the nascent stage of the venture capital secondaries market in MENA, the recommendation would be to hold SHUAA Capital shares as the market evolves and matures.