UAE-Based Startup Zest Equity Secures $3.8 Million in Seed Funding to Digitize Private Market Deals

Table of Contents

Overview

Zest Equity, a startup based in the UAE that aims to digitize private market dealings, has raised $3.8 million in seed funding. The investment will be used to build more tools for ecosystem players, enabling fast and transparent transactions while increasing liquidity through secondary deals.

Key Highlights

Seed Round: Led by Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP), with participation from the Dubai Future District Fund (DFDF) and DASH Ventures.
Total Funding: $5.7 million raised by the startup so far.
Founders: Co-founded by Rawan Baddour and Zuhair Shammain in 2021.

Background

Traditionally, ecosystem players like founders and venture capitalists transact offline, which can be tedious, obscure, and costly. Zest Equity was founded to address this issue, leveraging technology to empower communication, connection, and information sharing among stakeholders.

"We’re digitizing a lot of what is actually very manual, and we have taken a tech-first approach to automate as much as we can, while building a platform that is unique and scalable," said Rawan Baddour, former banking executive and co-founder of Zest Equity.

Platform Features

Zest Equity’s tools enable founders to invite investors to fundraising rounds, share information (including pitch decks and cap tables), and track deal processes. Investors can submit their interest, see other VCs participating in the round, and sign documents. The platform also provides legal infrastructure for investors to form investment syndicates or special purpose vehicles.

"We have built a digital platform that allows [founders and investors] to share or get data that they want to share, and invite their network of people to participate in deals. On the other side, we provide them with the legal infrastructure to group all of these people that they have brought in into a single entity to keep the cap table clean and to streamline the whole process," Baddour added.

Future Plans

The funding will be used to build new tools, making the process even more seamless. Zest Equity is also developing tools for startups to create standardized processes for secondary share trades. These tools will enable startups to control liquidation, approve information sharing, and accelerate sale approvals.

"In a relatively short time, Zest Equity has already proven to be a valuable and dependable solution for digitizing private market transactions in the Middle East. As more startups and investors mature, they inevitably seek more avenues to liquidity and opportunity," said Walid Mansour of MEVP.

Expansion Plans

The startup is eyeing emerging markets like Africa (North Africa), South Asia, and Turkey, which have similar gaps and issues.

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About the Author

Annie Njanja covers startups and tech news in Africa for TechCrunch. She has experience in technology, business, and health reporting and has written for multiple outlets including the Thomson Reuters Foundation, Business Daily, and the Daily Nation.