US Venture Capital is all we do. We’re Middle East natives with a VC-focused network of regional investors and capital allocators.
We work with the best VCs in the world who have earned the right to be selective. Equally, we work with allocators with a proven track record to back their fund managers through the cycles and who understand and appreciate such VCs.
A VC’s job is to support the best founders and generate returns. Fundraising is a distraction. We make it light touch, efficient, and fast.
We understand our region’s challenges, we understand Venture Capital, and we do a good job of connecting both worlds.
VC is a game of access. The best opportunities are oversubscribed.
With 9+ years of VC experience in Silicon Valley, a team on the ground, and a deep understanding of the asset class, we mastered accessing the most sought-after deals and rounds and turned it into a process.
We only work with VC managers with a solid track record, outlook, value add, and the commitment and discipline required to build an investment platform to scale and serve LPs long term. Repeatable top-tier realized returns (DPIs) are what we look for.
We partner with category-leading, innovative technology companies and assist them in forging critical partnerships to make their international expansions successful. We have a deep understanding and first-hand experience in establishing a presence for technology companies approaching Japan, the Middle-East, North Africa and SEA.
We know the best resources in each one of our markets to get the best human capital, regulatory framework, anchor clients, key partnerships or investors.
We align our incentives with the founders and teams we work with. We are Conviction-driven. We are after true partnerships that yield and compound value.
SAN FRANCISCO, USA
DUBAI, UAE
TOKYO, JAPAN
DUBAI, UAE
DUBAI, UAE
SAN FRANCISCO, USA
Chief Executive Officer
Partner
Zafer founded Silicon Valley Venture and Innovation (SVVI) in 2019 in San Francisco with the aim of working with world-leading governments, corporations, and Institutional Investors on capital deployment and ecosystem development strategies and execution.
Before SVVI, Zafer was at Social Capital, a pioneering VC firm in Palo Alto, where he lead capital formation for the MENA region and later was tasked with spinning out Capital as a Service, an AI, data-driven investment technology set of tools.
Zafer worked with entrepreneurs from all over the world as a partner at 500 Startups (2015-2018), through 500's acceleration programs in Silicon Valley and its Ecosystem Development Programs around the world. In 2016, Zafer launched 500 Startups' Ecosystem Development Programs in Japan, which scaled to Australia and Latin America in 2017. He created and led the 500 Startups' Corporate Startup Innovation (CSI) Program in San Francisco, which aims at getting corporations and startups to innovate together.
Previously, Zafer co-founded The Online Project, where his team developed and executed digital strategies for Fortune 500 companies and high-profile organizations. In 2004, Zafer co-founded his first company: Modern Media, LTD, a media house that owns and operates popular radio stations which received recognition from the US-based National Association for Broadcasters in 2007 (In 2014, Modern Media was acquired by D&C Electronics).
In this guide, we answer the most recurring questions we get from GPs we work with. We also share our recommendations for success.
download the guide