In the great big Middle East venture capital boom (ranging from the active Lebanon and Levant venture capital scene to the UAE venture capital scene to the GCC venture capital scene…), Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP) stands out as a notable player. Led from Beirut by Rabih Khoury, Walid Hanna, Walid Mansour and a small team of investment professionals, MEVP is a Middle East-focused venture capital and private equity, early stage financing, angel funding firm that invests in the early and growth stages of innovative companies run by talented entrepreneurs primarily, but not exclusively, in Lebanon and the greater Levant region. MEVP claims to have a unique combination of backgrounds and expertise that allows them to partner with innovative entrepreneurs and help them grow and develop, especially in their early stages, stages that are notoriously difficult to navigate for new MENA startups. MEVP believes that, today, timing is ideal to start companies in our region. Indeed, the region has a young, middle-class population that is rapidly growing, disposable income is increasing due to economic growth and societies are more aligned with global culture due to higher levels of connectivity. These trends offer opportunities for innovative entrepreneurs to build market-leading ventures and MENA Opportunities has been a staunch supporter and promoter of these talented “inventors”. Like most venture capital firms, MEVP seeks passionate entrepreneurs with young companies or fresh ideas that are innovative in their fields. These innovations could be in their product, service, business model, or value chain. The reasoning is that their differentiated and proprietary edge will allow them to build a great brand, customer loyalty, and a robust, healthy business. MEVP favors the consumer technology, consumer products, and consumer services sectors but also consider ventures in other areas, such as logistics, food processing, and hospitality, among others. That said, MEVP is emblematic of a problem facing most MENA entrepreneurs and that is the poor terms being offered to them, an issue astutely analyzed by PITME Founder and CEO Nima Adelkhani right
HERE on MENA Opportunities. To be fair, MEVP is not better or worse than other venture capital firms. In fact, it's probably one of the better venture capital firms maneuvering in the promising but still relatively young MENA startup ecosystem. It’s just that many entrepreneurs are (too?) late to realize that venture capital is not always the most attractive or efficient financing option. And that is the underlying purpose of this article: MENA entrepreneurs should carefully weigh the pros and cons of a venture capital relationship. Because remember: accepting an investor in your company is like accepting a permanent (emphasis on permanent) guest in your house. If you are not comfortable with him walking around in his dirty boxer shorts as of day one, things are very unlikely to improve with time…
