The Oman Future Fund, a 2 billion Omani rials ($5.2 billion) investment fund run by the Oman Investment Authority, has partnered with IDG Capital, and ewpartners to set up funds to bankroll strategic industries and advance the local economy of the Gulf state.
The Oman Future Fund made its first batch of investment projects in early October, including the launch of two funds, the ewpartners-Oman Fund and the IDG Oman Investment Fund, along with ewpartners and China-focused IDG Capital, respectively, according to Oman’s Foreign Ministry.
The Oman Future Fund, which officially started operations in January, is investing 220 million Omani rials ($571.5 million) in these projects, while foreign investments account for 609 million Omani rials ($1.6 billion).
Its investments in these projects range from 5-100 million Omani rials ($13-$259.8 million), with shareholding positions of no more than 40%. Its investments in startups and SMEs are capped at 5 million Omani rials, with no majority ownership.
The first batch of its investment projects spans 10 key sectors including technology, industry, tourism, new energy, and electric vehicles (EVs). Its investments in startups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) cover industries like food, health, fintech, and e-commerce.
The total value of these projects is more than 832 million Omani rials ($2.16 billion), said the Omani Foreign Ministry.
The ewpartners-Oman Fund, a local fund that will support Oman Vision 2040 by leveraging products, technologies, and capabilities of industry champions from matured markets, especially China.
Managed by ewpartners, formerly known as eWTP Arabia Capital, the local fund will invest across sectors of relevance for the Omani economy, with a focus on advanced manufacturing, information and communications technology (ICT), renewable energy, logistics, tourism, and agriculture.
Separately, the Oman Investment Authority committed $150 million to ewpartners Technology Innovation Fund II, a $1-billion private equity (PE) fund that invests in technology companies for their expansion in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, according to a statement by ewpartners.
Riyadh-headquartered ewpartners specialises in cross-border investments in Asia and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), the firm has backed 18 GCC companies since its inception in 2017, including the local subsidiaries of Alibaba Cloud and courier service J&T Express.
Additionally, the Oman Future Fund also set up the IDG Oman Investment Fund along with Beijing-based IDG Capital to focus on ICT, renewable energy, and EVs.
IDG Capital, which began operations in China in 1993, invests across seed, venture, growth, and buyout-stage companies, as well as public equities across consumer technology, advanced manufacturing & new energy, and healthcare. With over 500 IPOs and M&A under its belt, the firm operates from offices globally covering China, the US, Singapore, South Korea, and Vietnam.
Mulham bin Basheer Al-Jarf, deputy president for investment at the Oman Investment Authority, said that the projects align with the sovereign wealth fund’s strategic goals, which aim to develop the Omani economy, advance the country’s key economic sectors, attract foreign investments, collaborate with the private sector, and create growth opportunities for startups and SMEs.
The Oman Investment Authority (OIA) saw its assets under management (AUM) rise to nearly 19.2 billion Omani rials (close to $50 billion) in 2023, from 18 billion Omani rials ($46.8 billion) in the previous year.
It booked 1.7 billion Omani rials ($4.4 billion) in profit in 2023, up from 1.4 billion Omani rials ($3.6 billion) in 2022, according to its annual report released in June.
