Qatari funds finds its way into tech ventures too | GulfNews.com

Qatari funds finds its way into tech ventures too | GulfNews.com:



"Qatari funds are not just being deployed to pick up a Harrods or develop the Shard high-rise … they could even be extended to European tech firms on the cusp of going bigger.



The Mannai Corp. recently placed some of its considerable financial resources into Nexthink, a Swiss firm IT firm which specialises in end-user analytics. The latter secured $14.5 million (Dh53.26 million) in a Series D round of funding — led by Auriga Partners — with participation from a new investor, the entrepreneur Gilles Queru, and existing investors VI Partners and Mannai Corporation. (Mannai Corp., incidentally, owns the UAE based jewellery chain Damas, which it bought in early 2014.) It was in 2008 that Nexthink set up a presence in the region and went on to build a roster of clients for its services. “Our general manager in the region, Yassine Zaied, had established a great business relationship with Mannai Corporation as one of our first partners in the Middle East,” said Pedro Bados, CEO and Co-founder of Nexthink. “With Mannai, we signed the first important customer successes and references.



“When a new round of funding came up, we presented the opportunity to Mannai and the fit was natural. The round of funding was in 2012 for $5.5 million, which was then used to expand our global presence.”"



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