Doha-San Francisco: Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the sovereign wealth fund of the State of Qatar, and Founders Circle Capital (FCC), a leading San Francisco-based, growth stage venture firm focused on investing in scaled, venture-backed businesses, announced that FCC as the latest VC partner to join QIA’s $1 billion Fund of Funds program.
QIA’s commitment to Founders Circle through its Fund of Funds program aims to strengthen ties between Qatar and the global innovation ecosystem by supporting high-growth companies across FCC’s core sectors, software, cloud infrastructure, fintech, healthcare, and consumer internet.
Founded in 2012, Founders Circle established itself as a venture firm focused on the human side of investing in private companies.
FCC pioneered two strategies to support the teams who are the ones building the next generation of consequential companies-employee liquidity solutions combined with access to a private leadership community-both of which support founders, executives, and employees to navigate the longer life cycles in their private companies.
The new partnership with QIA will help FCC scale the firm’s ability to deliver a wider breadth of capital and community options for these company builders as well as those that support them.
Through the partnership, FCC will also establish its first international office in Doha, which will serve as its MENA regional headquarters. The new office will be initially led by Ken Loveless , the firm’s Co-Founder and Partner.
In addition, FCC will bring its private leadership community to Doha, called The Circle, which is comprised of executives of high-performing, growth-stage companies within and beyond the FCC portfolio.
The Circle will support the development of Qatar’s local venture and innovation ecosystem by connecting founders, investors, and corporate partners with programming and content designed to help executives in Qatar scale themselves so they can successfully scale their companies.
Furthermore, QIA and FCC will create exchange opportunities for executives from Qatar-based companies and institutions, whereby FCC will welcome them to San Francisco and create a digital bridge between Silicon Valley and Doha.
This program is designed to increase knowledge-sharing while at the same time generating new business opportunities between the US and Qatar.
Commenting on the announcement, CEO of QIA Mohammed Saif Al Sowaidi said: "QIA launched the Fund of Funds program to build bridges between the global VC ecosystem and startups in Qatar and the broader region. We are delighted to welcome Founders Circle Capital to our already impressive roster, and we look forward to working closely together to further enhance the regional startup ecosystem and generate positive financial results.”
Co-Founder and Partner of FCC Ken Loveless said: "We’re honored to partner with QIA and its Fund of Funds program to deepen the bridge between Silicon Valley and Qatar’s rapidly growing innovation ecosystem. QIA’s commitment reflects a shared belief in supporting founders who are building enduring, category-defining companies, and we’re excited to help bring The Circle community and our broader network to Doha.”
Today’s announcement marks the seventh VC firm to join QIA’s Fund of Funds program and commit to invest in the region and locate their regional headquarters in Qatar.
Since the first announcement in February 2024, over half of the allocation have been deployed with VC firms including B Capital, Builders VC, Deerfield, Human Capital, Rasmal Ventures, and Utopia Capital Management.
