du Commits $50m to New Shorooq-Managed Corporate Venture Fund for Startups

UAE telecom operator du is backing a new corporate venture fund with $50 million to invest in startups, with the vehicle managed by regional investment firm Shorooq Partners. The commitment was reported on 4 June 2026.

The fund will support startups working across areas including artificial intelligence, fintech, cybersecurity, cloud services, gaming, enterprise software and customer-experience technology. By anchoring the vehicle, du joins a growing list of Gulf corporates channelling capital into venture investing to gain early access to technologies relevant to their core businesses.

For du, a corporate venture arm offers a way to build relationships with founders whose products could plug into its networks, enterprise services and consumer offerings, while also participating in the financial upside of the region's expanding startup ecosystem. Pairing with Shorooq gives the operator an experienced manager with a portfolio spanning fintech, software and frontier technologies across the Middle East and beyond.

Shorooq Partners has been scaling its platform across equity and private-credit strategies, and managing a telecom-backed corporate fund extends its remit into structured corporate venture capital. The firm has previously launched vehicles with other institutional and sovereign-linked partners in the region.

The fund reflects a broader trend in the UAE, where telecom groups, banks and conglomerates are formalising venture programs to keep pace with fast-moving sectors such as AI and fintech, and to position themselves at the centre of the country's innovation economy.