startAD, VentureSouq Launch Climatetech Investor Program

The Abu Dhabi-based global startup accelerator startAD and the MENA-based venture capital (VC) fund VentureSouq have joined forces to launch the third edition of the Conscious Investor Fellowship (CIF 3.0), bringing together 25 senior capital allocators from across the MENA region in an exclusive eight-week program aimed at transforming climatetech investment in the region.

The initiative is being run in partnership with the Middle East's largest environmental regulator Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD), aligning directly with the UAE capital's climate finance priorities under its 2026–2030 strategy. 

Running from April to July 2025, CIF 3.0 offers a targeted curriculum for C-suite executives from sovereign wealth funds, family offices, corporations, philanthropies, and government entities. Participants will gain exposure to technical deep dives, peer-to-peer learning, and real-time venture engagement, all designed to bridge the gap between capital and climate innovation in the region. The program will conclude with the ninth edition of the Angel Rising Investment Symposium, a regional platform for discussions around impact investment. 

Inc. Arabia spoke to Nihal Shaikh, Associate Director at startAD, and Lola Fernandez, Principal at VentureSouq, about how CIF 3.0 is powering a shift in the MENA region’s climatetech financing landscape. 

“The climate tech landscape that barely existed five years ago is now blossoming across MENA, and CIF 3.0 is designed to nurture this growth by providing more specialized knowledge, deeper technical dives, and stronger connections to global climate capital networks," Fernandez said. "As they say in venture capital, timing is everything—and for climatetech in MENA, that time is undeniably now."

Launched in 2020 by startAD and VentureSouq, the Conscious Investor Fellowship initially focused on general impact investing, training 57 alumni and welcoming 30 speakers across its first two editions. Each edition reflected evolving investor appetite and offered lessons on reshaping capital flow across the region. “Looking back at our journey with the Conscious Investor Fellowship, one of our most powerful discoveries has been the magic that happens when we bring the entire MENA region together around a shared mission,” said Fernandez. “We've been incredibly fortunate to welcome fellows from across the region—from Saudi Arabia, Egypt to the UAE—creating something far more valuable than just an investor education program.” 

That regional energy, Fernandez noted, has helped expose the disconnect between the narrative and reality of climate funding in MENA. “When we first launched CIF focusing broadly on impact investing, the official funding numbers told a story of limited regional interest, low funding numbers and barely any pipeline of startups," she said. "Our fellows' enthusiasm and engagement painted an entirely different picture, and the shared stories, thesis and pipeline started a new narrative for the region.” 

For Shaikh, a central lesson from the fellowship’s earlier editions was redefining who counts as an investor in climate solutions. “A critical lesson was the importance of expanding the definition of 'investors' to include a broader group of capital allocators—government CSR departments, family offices, corporate innovation teams, and government entities—not just traditional venture capitalists or angel investors," Shaikh said. According to Shaikh, many of these players were already interested in impact. but lacked the infrastructure to act. “Frameworks, technical literacy, and peer networks were underdeveloped," she explained. "More than anything, we've recognized that influence grows exponentially when it's shared.” 

That insight has shaped the design of CIF 3.0. The new edition integrates pan-regional participation, builds deep ecosystem ties, and doubles down on peer-to-peer learning and sector-specific intensives. “We’re equipping fellows to co-create deal syndicates, launch dedicated vehicles, and shape boardroom-level climate strategies,” Shaikh said. “This isn’t theoretical.” The timing of CIF 3.0 also coincides with rapid changes in the global climatetech landscape. In 2024, funding volatility, startup failures, and growing urgency around climate impacts marked a year of reckoning. Yet for the MENA, that volatility is revealing opportunities. 

“Perhaps the most significant shift is the evolution in corporate engagement with climate solutions,” Fernandez said. “The 28th edition of the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) in the UAE served as a massive introduction to climatetech for many regional corporates and family offices who initially approached the space with cautious experimentation—dabbling in accelerators and testing isolated solutions. What's fascinating now is watching these same entities move beyond that exploratory phase into strategic deployment. They've completed their learning curve, and they are engaging with climate startups with newfound confidence and conviction.” 

That change also is reshaping how capital flows, according to Fernandez. “The region is moving beyond the one-size-fits-all venture capital model to embrace funding diversity that aligns with the unique growth trajectories of climate technologies,” Fernandez said. “Early-stage hardware innovations now have access to initial patient capital and grant funding, while digital solutions can tap into traditional VC structures. Growth-stage companies are finding project finance and blended capital approaches that make commercial sense. This funding ecosystem sophistication means founders can build with appropriate capital structures rather than forcing their business models into conventional VC expectations. For investors and founders alike, understanding this nuanced capital landscape will be essential for success in 2025 and beyond.” 

Founders who ignore this shift risk missing out on critical support and capital access. “The capital landscape is becoming more nuanced, but also more intelligent,” said Shaikh. “The message is clear: build climate solutions with commercial relevance, backed by policy insight, and surrounded by cross-sector partnerships—and capital will follow.” 

That blend of policy and capital is reflected in CIF 3.0’s partnership with the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi. “We're particularly excited to partner with the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi for this edition of the fellowship," Fernandez said. "They bring a dual perspective that's invaluable—both as architects of the regulatory framework and as conveners who understand the practical challenges of implementation across stakeholder groups. This regulatory clarity is creating defined market opportunities that simply didn't exist before.” 

According to Shaikh, one of the biggest opportunities now lies in translating regional relevance into returns. “The MENA faces specific climate stressors— heat, water, energy intensity, food security, health—and our startups are already innovating against these backdrops," she said. "But they remain underfunded and under-recognized, because traditional investors aren’t yet equipped to underwrite their risk.” 

To change this, CIF 3.0 focuses on de-risking early reserach and development (R&D), leveraging blended capital, and unlocking public procurement channels—critical tools to make imperfect deals investable. “It recognizes that investors who step into this space now are effectively shaping the playbook," Shaikh said. "Our take is: don’t wait for the perfect deal—create the conditions that make imperfect deals investable... In five years, we envision a regional climatetech ecosystem where a founder in Al Ain or Muscat doesn’t need to relocate to raise capital—and where the MENA isn't just a recipient of climatetech, but a net exporter of innovation and investment expertise."

One of the most striking gaps CIF 3.0 addresses is the mismatch between investor capital and regional startups. “Middle Eastern investors deployed an impressive $3.6 billion into global climatetech in 2024—representing six percent of worldwide funding—yet climatetech within the MENA itself captures less than 0.2 percent of global investment," Fernandez pointed out. "This creates what we call a 'valley of death' for regional climate entrepreneurs, where solutions with immense potential struggle to secure the capital they need to scale.” 

The fellowship thus aims to close this gap by developing a cohort of climate-fluent investors. “We're equipping fellows with the technical frameworks to assess technologies from carbon capture to precision agriculture, while simultaneously helping them navigate the complex funding landscape across Abu Dhabi and the broader region,” Fernandez explained. 

The long-term ambition, of course, is to transform the MENA into a global climatetech hub. “Our vision is that within five years, the MENA will not only be a major deployment market for climate solutions but will become a significant source of climate innovation that scales globally," Fernandez said. "The investors we're training today through CIF 3.0 will be the catalysts who transform the region from a climate technology importer to a climate technology powerhouse—creating economic opportunity while addressing our unique environmental challenges.” 

To get there, CIF 3.0 is also targeting one of the toughest challenges: the missing middle in early-stage climatetech funding. “The 'missing middle' is MENA’s most underleveraged lever for impact,” Shaikh explained. “The investors who move now will not only secure asymmetric returns, but will also cement their legacy as ecosystem builders.” 

According to Fernandez, investors navigating this space must go beyond generalist models. “Climatetech isn't a monolith—it's a diverse ecosystem spanning energy, agriculture, built environment, and more," she said. "The most successful investors I've observed are those who develop deep domain expertise in specific. This specialization allows you to evaluate technical feasibility more accurately and connect portfolio companies to the right industry partners.” 

She also noted that blended finance structures that combine grant funding, VC, and strategic corporate investment are proving especially effective. “These collaborative structures can de-risk early technical development while maintaining the commercial discipline that drives scale,” Fernandez said. "The investors who will define MENA's climate future aren't just writing checks—they're architecting funding ecosystems." 

Ultimately, assessing climatetech startups in MENA requires a different lens. “First is regional relevance—solutions addressing water scarcity, extreme heat, and energy efficiency tend to find stronger product-market fit than those imported without adaptation," Fernandez explained. "Second is regulatory alignment—startups that understand and can navigate the evolving policy landscape have significant advantages in scaling. And third is the team's ability to bridge technical innovation with commercial execution—the most promising founders demonstrate both deep technical knowledge and the capacity to translate that into viable business models." 

Pictures in the lead image (from left to right) are Nihal Shaikh, Associate Director of startAD and Lola Fernandez, Principal at VentureSouq. Image courtesy startAD.