Where AI is taking capital next
On Monday 28 September, I'm hosting an invite-only evening in Riyadh, exploring AI and the Future of Capital.
I'll be joined by founders from our the Arāya Ventueres portfolio, building some of the most interesting companies coming out of the region, for a conversation about where opportunity is emerging and how a new generation is changing the way capital gets deployed.
The same questions this newsletter keeps coming back to: where the world is heading, and how to back it early.
It's one of the rooms we create through House of Arāya, our community for angel investors, where we bring a global network of investors together around real deals, shared diligence, and the conversations that sharpen how you invest.
If you'd like to be in the room at the event next week, respond to this newsletter and i’ll send you the invite.
Build here for the world
There's a question worth asking early in a company's life: is this built to go global from the start?
The best founders design for that from day one. They treat their first market as a launchpad, building it in a way that opens the next one, and the one after that.
This came up in our new investor series; Majlis. A 4-part discussion exploring how, and where, capital is flowing across the GCC.
Our first episode is a conversation about capital in the GCC with Zuhair Shamma of Zest and Yassin Khoujja of the Dubai Future District Fund. In it, Yassin made a point that applies far beyond the region.
The founders most likely to succeed, he said, are the ones targeting a global market from the start, using their home base for its talent, capital, and infrastructure while building for customers well beyond it. The UAE is built for exactly this: the access, the ecosystem, and the infrastructure to reach the world from day one.
The same is true for startups building in the UK, Europe and many other markets; your home market can be the launchpad for building a truly global company. As Yassin put it, it's too easy for a founder to say they'll just target the UAE. The ones raising serious capital are building from there toward India, Egypt, the US.
The ambition shows up in the results. Over the last five years, unicorn creation in the UAE and Saudi Arabia grew by over 300%. That's what happens when founders build for a market far larger than the one on their doorstep.
What this means for you
This is one of the clearest things I look for now, in any market.
The most exciting early companies are the ones built to travel from the start, designed for a global market. When a founder builds their home market in a way that naturally opens the next, and the one after that, you're often looking at something with real range.
Those are the founders behind the outsized outcomes, the ones that carry a whole portfolio. Building for the world early is one of the clearest signals I look for, and since AI arrived it matters more than ever.
I get into where GCC capital is going next, and what it means for founders, with both guests in this episode of The Majlis.
Warmly,
Rupa
P.s. When you're ready, here are 3 ways I can help:
Follow me on LinkedIn: I share quick takes on deals, founder patterns, and what I am seeing across the ecosystem between newsletters.
Subscribe to my new YouTube channel: I'm releasing in-depth videos every week on how to succeed with angel investing.
House of Arāya Membership: Access pre-vetted deals, co-invest alongside Arāya Ventures, and join a community that pools diligence and shares real perspectives.
