Follow The Money: Global Ventures' Medea Nocentini

For Follow The Money, the cover story for Inc. Arabia's January/February 2025 issue, we tapped industry leaders for insights to guide your moves in the MENA entrepreneurial landscape in 2025. In this piece, we go one-on-one with Medea Nocentini, senior partner at the UAE-headquartered Global Ventures, on the opportunities she and her firm are keeping an eye on this year. 

Medea Nocentini, senior partner at Global Ventures, a UAE-based venture capital firm that focuses primarily on Series A and Series B investments, tells us that while her enterprise maintained a strong fintech focus with its first two funds, it is now increasingly pivoting toward “industries primed for technological transformation.” Indeed, Nocentini says that she anticipates increasing investments toward resource efficiency in sectors like supply chain, agritech, and energy. 

“We are a thesis-driven firm, meaning we research each sector,” Nocentini explains. “We make sure to understand its intricacies before investing in companies across the value chain, and we often focus on sectors poised for significant transformation. For example, when deploying our first fund, it had a heavy fintech focus as 85 percent of the regional population was unbanked. The adoption of technology and innovative solutions since then has significantly reduced those unbanked and redefined the sector. Similarly, in 2020 we launched our Fund II, which had a strong focus on healthtech, as we expected significant digital acceleration to transform the sector. We are currently deploying our latest fund, Fund III, which is strategically aligned with the next set of industries ripe for technological transformations.” 

Fintech remained a key sector of interest for Global Ventures in 2024, with Nocentini noting that it accounted for 20 percent of regional deals in the year, and she expects it to continue to attract investor attention as it evolves. Looking forward though, Nocentini points to agritech as a sector in the region where she expects more funds to be allocated, largely owing to the persistence of food security concerns, as well as the heavy reliance on food imports, with countries like Saudi Arabia importing over 80 percent of their food. 

Other sectors that she believes have untapped potential include supply chain tech and climatetech. “The region’s supply chain industry is nascent and ripe for innovation,” she says. “The global energy spare parts market, for example, is a $91 billion market – largely untapped by existing additive manufacturing players – and of which the Middle East comprises 35 percent,” she says. An industry like additive manufacturing thus presents transformative opportunities, and Nocentini points to UAE-based Immensa – a Global Ventures’ portfolio company – as an example of a company tapping into the potential of this field. 

Founded in 2016 by Fahmi Al-Shawwa, Immensa is today the MENA region’s largest digital manufacturer, with one of its noteworthy achievements being a partnership with Norway-headquartered international accredited registrar and classification society Det Norske Veritas and the UAE’s state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) to create the world’s first guidelines for 3D printing parts for the energy sector. “Immensa’s growth, and regulatory milestones such as this, show the exciting potential for regional startups and SMEs to truly redefine sectors,” Nocentini says. 

According to Nocentini, cutting-edge tech will continue to lead the evolution of the region, with her highlighting blockchain and AI as being especially significant. “40 percent of our portfolio now uses AI,” she reveals. “Many traditional industries – especially those without legacy infrastructure such as supply chain and healthcare – are building on blockchain instead of Web2, enabling greater efficiency and transparency.” Nocentini also underscores AI’s transformative impact on sectors like education and HR. “AI is, for example, transforming the application process for candidates, companies, and recruiters,” she points out. 

Nocentini also highlights the fact that AI-powered predictive analytics are helping investors make more informed decisions while also speeding up due diligence processes. “The use of AI will make investment strategies more efficient by reducing lead times for data analysis and due diligence,” she says. “Investment firms – be they venture capital, private equity, or traditional institutions – could enhance performance by evaluating greater sample sizes and making final investment decisions faster. However, it should be noted that machine algorithms must continue to expand their datasets to enhance the precision of investment forecasts and their ability to understand market trends, particularly in more nascent markets such as the Middle East and Africa.” 

Looking forward to 2025, Nocentini expects the region “to continue to attract global investor dollars,” noting that with 52 percent of venture capital investment in the region in 2024 coming from abroad, there is clear excitement around “the region’s vast growth potential and untapped markets.” In terms of advice for investors hoping to tap into the opportunities presented by the MENA, Nocentini says that they should make it a point to familiarize themselves with the region’s nuances, market dynamics, and culture – and this needs to be done from a consumer, business, and entrepreneurial standpoint.

Plus, she urges investors to seek out companies tackling significant problems with unique, scalable, and defensible solutions, with a clear monetization strategy and product-market fit, as well as a viable business model. “At Global Ventures, we will continue to deepen our commitment to supporting founders driving transformative changes across emerging markets,” Nocentini concludes. “Founders with innovative, resource-efficient approaches addressing global societal challenges, will continue to receive significant investment.” 

Pictured on image is Medea Nocentini, senior partner at Global Ventures. Image courtesy Global Ventures.

This article first appeared in the January/February issue of Inc. Arabia magazine. To read the full issue online, click here.