Manara Ventures launches to back Jordanian tech with $70 million in capital

Published: 2026-05-20T08:05:40.000Z

Jordan Capital and Investment Fund has launched Manara Ventures a $70.5 million growth fund dedicated to scaling Jordanian technology companies. The Sharia-compliant fund backed by Abu Dhabi's Lunate will back more than 20 growth-stage startups with checks between $750K and $3 million.

Jordan has consistently produced technology companies that outgrow the domestic market faster than the local capital infrastructure can support them. The gap between a Jordanian startup with genuine regional ambition and the growth-stage funding needed to act on that ambition has been one of the more persistent structural gaps in the country's otherwise impressive tech ecosystem. Manara Ventures, a JOD 50 million fund equivalent to $70.5 million, launched by the Jordan Capital and Investment Fund, is a direct and serious attempt to close it. JCIF, Jordan's largest private sector investment fund backed by 17 Jordanian commercial and Islamic banks with a combined capital commitment of JOD 275 million, has established Manara Ventures as a dedicated scale-up vehicle for technology and innovation-driven Jordanian companies. The fund was set up in Abu Dhabi Global Market as a fully Sharia-compliant platform and secured backing from regional institutional investors including Abu Dhabi-based investment firm Lunate, a combination that gives Manara Ventures both domestic legitimacy and regional capital credibility from its first day of operation. The investment mandate is specific and deliberate. Manara Ventures will back more than 20 growth-stage Jordanian technology companies with check sizes ranging from $750,000 to $3 million, and has reserved additional capital to support up to 15 high-performing startups pursuing regional expansion opportunities. That two-tier structure, growth investment plus follow-on reserves for the strongest performers, is designed to stay with portfolio companies through their most capital-intensive phase rather than handing them off to the next investor after a single check. For Jordanian founders who have historically needed to look outside the country for growth-stage capital, having an institutional vehicle of this size dedicated specifically to their stage and geography is a meaningful change in the operating environment. Leading the fund is Luma Fawaz, appointed CEO of Manara Ventures and widely regarded as one of Jordan's most experienced figures in startup acceleration and ecosystem development. Fawaz spent years as CEO of Oasis500, where she oversaw more than 180 early-stage investments and worked closely with over 2,500 entrepreneurs across the region. That background gives Manara Ventures a fund manager who has seen Jordanian founders at the earliest stages of their journey and understands exactly what the transition from early-stage to growth-stage actually requires in practice. Hani Qadi, JCIF Chairman, framed the launch around Jordan's broader economic vision, describing Manara Ventures as aligned with the country's ambition to build a knowledge-based economy driven by entrepreneurship and private sector growth. Faris Sharaf, JCIF CEO, pointed directly to the Lunate partnership as a bridge between Jordanian innovation and regional capital, allowing companies to scale beyond local markets with institutional support behind them. Fawaz's own framing was direct about the dual mandate: delivering strong financial returns while catalyzing technological advancement and deepening regional collaboration. The broader context makes this launch particularly timely. Jordan's tech ecosystem has produced companies including Aramex, Maktoob, Souq, and more recently Cafu, Cura, and Mawdoo3 that have gone on to raise internationally or achieve significant exits. What Jordan has lacked is a growth-stage fund of sufficient scale, domestic mandate, and institutional backing to retain and accelerate that talent pipeline locally before it migrates to Dubai or Riyadh in search of capital. Manara Ventures is the most credible answer to that gap the country has produced, and the ADGM structure with Abu Dhabi institutional backing gives it the regional positioning to attract portfolio companies rather than simply offering them an alternative to looking elsewhere.