Aiming to plug a liquidity gap in MENA’s venture ecosystem
SHUAA Capital and Key Capital have announced a strategic partnership designed to accelerate the development of the venture capital secondaries market across the Middle East, North Africa and Europe. The collaboration pairs SHUAA’s institutional platform and capital markets capabilities with Key Capital’s specialist secondaries strategy as the region moves toward greater private markets depth.
Why secondaries are gaining attention
Venture capital activity in MENA has expanded rapidly over recent years. Industry data cited by the parties shows annual VC deployment in the region rising from roughly USD 1.1 billion in 2020 to USD 3.8 billion in 2025. That growth, however, has not been matched by liquid exit channels for founders, employees and early backers. The result is an emerging structural need for dedicated secondary solutions that can provide orderly liquidity without relying solely on IPOs or strategic M&A.
Key Capital estimates the regional secondaries opportunity at more than USD 1 billion and growing. Globally, the asset class has also seen rising institutional interest: Jefferies data referenced by the firms puts global secondaries transaction volume at a record USD 240 billion in 2025, underscoring why managers are looking to build local capability.
Fund strategy and structure
The vehicle at the center of the tie-up, Key Fund I LP, targets a USD 50 million pool and is structured as an Abu Dhabi Global Market limited partnership. According to the announcement, the fund pursues a disciplined secondaries approach focused on acquiring positions in high-growth technology companies through off-cap-table transactions. That strategy aims to provide liquidity to early shareholders while offering investors differentiated, potentially lower-cost entry points into scaled private assets.
Key Fund I has already closed two transactions, the firms said, though they did not disclose target names or deal terms. Maintaining confidentiality around portfolio companies is common in early secondary deals while managers complete carve-outs and negotiate transfer mechanics.
Roles and capabilities in the partnership
Under the terms outlined, SHUAA will provide advisory support spanning capital formation, strategic relationships and capital markets execution. The idea is to leverage SHUAA’s institutional distribution and regional relationships to augment Key Capital’s sourcing network and deal execution capabilities on secondaries.
Key Capital positions itself as the region’s first dedicated venture capital secondaries manager, regulated by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of ADGM. The firm is led by an operator-led team with collective experience in structuring and executing secondary transactions in technology assets across MENA.
Implications for investors and founders
The partnership could help broaden investor access to late-stage, growth-oriented private tech companies in the region. For limited partners, secondaries offer a way to calibrate vintage risk and accelerate distributions relative to primary VC funds. For founders, employees and early shareholders seeking liquidity, structured secondary solutions can provide alternative exit pathways without forcing a strategic sale or public listing.
Institutionalisation of secondaries also has potential to deepen local capital markets by creating more tradable private positions and standardising valuation and transfer practices. That would be particularly relevant in MENA where primary VC has expanded quickly but ancillary infrastructure such as dedicated secondary markets, fund restructuring expertise and escrow arrangements is still developing.
Challenges and what to watch
Despite attractive dynamics, establishing a thriving secondaries market in MENA faces hurdles. Deal sourcing in a region with a large number of small, early-stage cap tables can be time-intensive. Valuation transparency in private rounds varies across jurisdictions, and regulatory frameworks differ between countries. Managers will need to navigate tax, foreign ownership and securities rules while balancing founder interests and investor return expectations.
Market participants will also watch how the partnership prices risk across sectors and stages, whether the fund focuses on minority stake purchases or structured liquidity solutions, and how quickly it can scale beyond an initial USD 50 million target. Performance of the early transactions and the fund’s ability to attract institutional limited partners will be important signals for the broader ecosystem.
Context for regional markets
SHUAA is a long-established regional financial services group listed on the Dubai Financial Market and regulated by UAE authorities. Its involvement signals growing mainstream institutional interest in private-market solutions across the Gulf. For Key Capital, alignment with an established regional institution could accelerate market access and the distribution of a relatively new product type to local pension funds, family offices and wealth managers.
As MENA’s private markets mature, secondaries could play a key role in lifecycle management for technology companies and in enabling a more sustainable VC ecosystem. The SHUAA-Key Capital partnership represents an early attempt to professionalise that layer of the market by combining local institutional reach with specialised secondary execution capability.
Disclosure: The announcement contains forward-looking statements and projections. The parties referenced third-party data providers for market figures and did not disclose specific portfolio company details for the closed transactions.
