Tunis – September 15, 2025 – ANAVA, the fund of funds supported by the World Bank, CDC, and KFW, is excited to announce its commitment to invest $4 million in Rasmal Innovation Fund managed by Rasmal Ventures. This investment is part of an effort to attract international investors to the Tunisian startup ecosystem and support startups with funding and global growth. Rasmal Innovation Fund I is a MENA venture capital fund focused on early-stage FinTech, B2B SaaS, HealthTech, Logistics, and Supply Chain startups, aiming to strengthen digital infrastructure across the region.

The fund is managed by a seasoned venture capital team with extensive industry experience, comprising Soumaya Ben Beya Dridje, a Tunisian national, along with Alexander Wiedmer, Dr Shaikha Al Jabir and Angus Paterson. Rasmal Innovation Fund I is the first fund to be selected to benefit from the Qatar Investment Authority’s $1 billion VC program. It is targeting a total close of $100 million, with an initial close of $30 million.

Rasmal Innovation Fund I announces its investment in Aqua Development, a Tunisian-born company with global reach, co-founded by Othman Ben Abbes.

About the ANAVA Fund of Funds

ANAVA is Tunisia’s first euro-denominated fund of funds. It stands as a key pillar of the national initiative “Startup Tunisia,” with the ambition to position Tunisia as a hub of innovation and startups, within the Mediterranean, MENA, and Africa regions.

With a target size of €100 million, including an initial closing of €40 million subscribed by the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC) through a loan from the World Bank, and €20 million subscribed by KFW, the fund of funds aims to provide partnering funds with the capability to invest in Tunisian Startups in Tunisia and abroad allowing them to address their growth and internationalization needs.

The fund is managed by Smart Capital, a company authorized by the Financial Market Council (CMF), mandated by the Tunisian government to lead out its national Startup Tunisia program.

About Rasmal Ventures

Rasmal Ventures is Qatar’s first independent venture capital firm, with a strong footprint and an extensive network across the MENA innovation ecosystem. Headquartered in Doha with an office in Saudi Arabia, the firm follows a highly selective investment approach, focusing on proprietary opportunities that drive market innovation and sustainable growth.

Rasmal Innovation Fund I, the firm’s inaugural fund launched in June 2024, targets investments in promising tech startups at the pre-Series A, Series A, and Series B stages throughout the MENA region and beyond, with a flexible, sector-agnostic strategy.

About Aqua Development

Aqua Development is a Tunisian co-founded and dual-headquartered Tunisia and Korea start-up, combining biotech, AI and design engineering to develop shrimp aquaculture systems that achieve outstanding productivity, sustainability and economic competitivity, using zero antibiotics and polluting chemicals.

Aqua Development systems revolve around mimicking and leveraging natural ecosystems inside the farm, by recreating and rebuilding different balanced micro-fauna and flora inside the aquaculture tanks.