Follow The Money: 216 Capital's Dhekra Khelifi
The first female general partner at a Tunisian VC fund is driving AI-focused investments and tailored startup support across the MENA.
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 this year. In this piece, we go one-on-one with Dhekra Khelifi, partner at 216 Capital Ventures, on the opportunities she and her firm are keeping an eye on in 2025.
The first female general partner at a Tunisian venture capital (VC) fund, Dhekra Khelifi, partner at 216 Capital, operates out of one of the smallest countries in the MENA region.
However, the firm’s vision is expansive, with Khelifi stating that her enterprise, while maintaining a sector-agnostic approach, focuses on key sectors in the region like fintech, e-health, logistics, and energy, with a strategy that was developed specifically to cater to the needs of startup founders within the MENA.
“Startup founders in the region understand they need more than just capital from their investors, and we’ve shaped our offering accordingly,” she tells Inc. Arabia. “Our hands-on support, strategic partnerships, and growth acceleration initiatives have attracted over 800 entrepreneurs in the past two years, and we remain committed to providing this same high level of support throughout 2025.”
Khelifi points to artificial intelligence (AI) as being a key trend for investments this year, with a particular focus on technologies like agentic AI, small language models, edge AI, and AI-powered cybersecurity. Critically, she compares the role that AI is playing today to the role that software played once upon a time.
“Just as software changed investment strategies decades ago, AI is now following a similar path,” she says. “Software became the backbone of digital transformation, and similarly, AI is becoming the foundation of intelligent automation and decision-making, unlocking unprecedented efficiencies. Software transformed business models through software-as-a-service, shifting from ownership to subscription models. Now, AI and other emerging technologies are driving the next wave of business models, i.e. AI-as-a-service, generative AI models, etc.”
This shift in tech has also spurred changes on the investment side of the equation, with Khelifi noting that while investors initially focused on infrastructure before shifting to scalable applications, they are now prioritizing proprietary datasets and training capabilities. Additionally, Khelifi believes that the regional entrepreneurial ecosystem’s support network – which includes incubators, accelerators, and venture studios – has become a “true catalyst” for AI startups in the region, signaling that far from being a fad, AI is “a sustainable model likely to persist for decades.”
Now, while investors in the region can argue to be demonstrating both innovation and nimbleness in terms of how they operate, Khelifi says that she would still like to see more investment going to solutions that address pressing issues in the MENA. “Agritech deserves more emphasis, particularly to address looming food security challenges,” she points out. “Precision farming solutions, especially, remain significantly undervalued. Moreover, despite our region’s rich history, diversity, and artistic heritage, there’s a concerning lack of interest in promoting Arab culture through digital platforms, content, and gaming. While we rely on global tech platforms, we’re missing opportunities to leverage our growing population and unique demographics to build platforms that reflect our distinct perspective and cultural identity.”
At the end of the day, when it comes to investment, Khelifi underscores the value of tailoring strategies to the region. “The key to success lies in fostering strong local partnerships and truly understanding that the region has its own unique dynamics – it’s not a simple copy-paste of strategies from Silicon Valley, Europe, or China. Aligning with national development plans is essential, as they are crafted by visionary leaders, and they reflect the aspirations and long-term goals of their people,” she concludes.
This article first appeared in the January/February issue of Inc. Arabia magazine. To read the full issue online, click here.
Pictures on the image is Dhekra Khelifi, partner at 216 Capital. Image courtesy 216 Capital.
