Homegrown Ventures Closes $22.8M Fund for MENA Brands

There has never been a fund built specifically for this. Until now. Homegrown Ventures has closed its debut Fund I at USD 22.8 million, surpassing its USD 20 million target, becoming MENA's first purpose-built CPG venture capital firm.

There has never been a fund built specifically for this. Until now. Homegrown Ventures, a Dubai and Delaware-headquartered venture capital firm, has announced the final close of its debut Fund I at USD 22.8 million, surpassing its original USD 20 million target. The oversubscribed close positions it as the first purpose-built venture capital firm in the MENA region dedicated exclusively to consumer packaged goods and fast-moving consumer goods brands. Backed by a mix of regional and international investors, the fund will target early-stage companies operating in food and beverage, health and wellness, personal care, home care, and lifestyle, with a specific focus on what the firm calls "better-for-you" brands built for the modern MENA consumer.

The firm was co-founded by Nader Amiri and Ahmad Shamieh, two partners who together bring more than 30 years of operating experience inside the global CPG industry. Amiri spent over a decade in brand management roles at Mondelez, Coca-Cola, and Unilever before founding elGrocer, a UAE-based online grocery delivery platform that was acquired by Etisalat's e& Group in 2021. Shamieh brings two decades of senior leadership experience from Kraft Foods, Nokia, Microsoft, and Danone across multiple international markets, and previously co-founded HilalFul, a cultural lifestyle brand rooted in contemporary Middle Eastern identity. The model they are building at Homegrown is explicitly not a generalist technology fund with a consumer allocation attached. The stated pitch to founders is sector depth: partners who have negotiated with the same retail buyers, navigated the same supply chains, and made the same manufacturing mistakes that CPG founders encounter in the early stages.

Prior to the final close, Homegrown had already deployed capital into five portfolio companies. The two that have been publicly named include PawPots, a fresh pet nutrition brand operating across Lebanon and the UAE, and Plaay, a clean-ingredient chocolate brand built around zero processed sugar. The fund targets companies generating a minimum of USD 1 to 2 million in annual revenue, signaling a preference for brands that have already demonstrated some market traction rather than pre-revenue concepts. Capital will be deployed across MENA, South Asia, and select international markets as the fund continues building out its portfolio.

The macro backdrop supports the thesis. The MENA FMCG sector held approximately USD 58 billion in value as of recent estimates, with the UAE and Saudi Arabia leading regional growth. In the UAE specifically, premium FMCG brands grew at 20% while the broader market expanded at around 4%, according to industry data, illustrating the structural demand for higher-quality, differentiated products. Saudi Arabia's health food market is projected to grow from USD 25.8 billion in 2025 to USD 47.6 billion by 2031, at a compound annual growth rate of 10.5%, driven by consumer demand for natural, functional, and plant-based products. That trajectory reflects the broader generational shift the Homegrown partners are betting on: more than 55% of the MENA population is under 35, and this cohort is measurably choosing local brands with transparent ingredient lists and cultural relevance over multinational legacy products.

The comparison to US-based CPG-specialist funds is instructive. Springdale Ventures, which closed a USD 40 million Fund II targeting early-stage food, beverage, pet, health, and beauty brands, and VMG Partners, which manages over USD 1 billion in assets, both built significant practices by serving a segment that generalist tech VCs consistently underserved. Homegrown is positioning itself as that infrastructure layer for MENA, at a moment when the region's consumer economy is shifting in ways that have historically created durable exit opportunities for sector-specific investors. The UAE's "Make it in the Emirates" manufacturing push and Saudi Vision 2030's emphasis on local food production add a regulatory and policy tailwind that further supports the investment case for locally built consumer brands across the Gulf.