MENA TechBY Venture Partners closes $60 million Fund III and opens Lisbon office
Dubai-headquartered BY Venture Partners has closed its $60 million Fund III to back early-stage AI-native companies and opened an office in Lisbon.
I
IT Magazine Staff
MENA TechDubai-headquartered early-stage venture capital firm BY Venture Partners announced on 29 October 2026 the $60 million close of its third vehicle, Fund III, alongside the launch of its Portuguese office in Lisbon. The new fund brings the firm's total assets under management to over $200 million.
Fund III is anchored by the Dubai Future District Fund (DFDF), with participation from regional institutional investors, corporate venture arms, and family offices including Multi Lane, Transmed Capital, and the Idriss Family Office (KSA). The firm's four partners—Ghaith Yafi, Abdallah Yafi, Rami Jisr, and Sohrab Jahanbani—are repeat entrepreneurs who built and exited businesses before joining forces as investors. Fund I and II have produced four unicorns and companies valued in the hundreds of millions, returning capital to the firm's LPs.
While anchored in the Middle East, BY Venture Partners operates with a global mandate across more than 16 international markets, deploying two-thirds of its capital outside the MENA region across North America and Europe. The firm established its European footprint through the new Lisbon office and two local investment hires. “We are particularly excited to invest more across Europe, where hubs such as Madrid, London, Paris and Berlin are driving rapid advances in AI-native software,” said Ghaith Yafi, Founding Partner at BY Venture Partners.
Partner Sohrab Jahanbani said that European founders often face a barrier when bridging the gap to international capital and global commercial scale. Having backed companies including Onfido, PQShield, and Huspy from earlier funds, Jahanbani added that the Lisbon hub aims to give European founders direct access to global networks, cross-border deployment opportunities, and an operator-led team that builds across international markets.
Through Fund III, BY Venture Partners will invest primarily up to $1 million at the Pre-Seed to Series A stages in a planned 40-company portfolio of AI-native companies that reimagine enterprise workflows and scale globally from day one. The firm has already deployed 15 investments from the fund to date, including PQ Shield, Cosyne, Isometric, Huspy, and Invisible.
Written with AI and fact-checked against the linked sources by an automated AI review before publication. Spotted an error? See our Corrections Policy.
