Venture capital’s gamble in Muscat: Oman backs AI and deep tech founders instead of just infrastructure

Capital markets in the region have been chasing the AI race by pouring billions into infrastructure, data centers, and buying shares of major tech companies, but the move coming from Muscat presents a different investment equation that puts liquidity directly in the hands of founders as they build solutions from scratch. Viz Ventures, headquartered in the Sultanate of Oman, announced the launch of two new investment funds aiming to raise over $75 million, with more than $40 million already secured from investor commitments to support startups in artificial intelligence and deep tech locally and internationally.

This move relies on a dual financing structure that reflects maturity in deploying sovereign and institutional liquidity.The first vehicle is called the ‘Viz Ventures Second Fund’ to continue global investment in deep tech across the Gulf and North America, supported by the Idkaa group of the Omani Investment Authority, Omaninvest, and the Development Foundation of the Omani Liquefied Natural Gas Company.In contrast, the second vehicle, the ‘Viz Ventures Oman Fund’ backed by the ‘Oman Future Fund’, focuses on providing fully dedicated capital to local companies building AI-based business models within the Sultanate, coinciding with the establishment of the Oman International Financial Centre as a regional hub for international investors and companies.

This step is based on an explicit strategic conviction articulated by Abdullah Al-Shaqsi, co-founder and CEO of the firm launched in 2018 with Muhammad Al-Wahibi and Masoud Al-Ruwahi, who affirmed that artificial intelligence represents the most radical technological shift of our generation, stressing that Oman and the Gulf cannot remain spectators or merely chase infrastructure investments, global cloud providers, and public markets. The real bet lies in supporting founders who reshape industries early and holding influential stakes in their companies during the founding stage.

The bet does not start from nothing; the investment platform has already completed ten quality investments that demonstrate the type of technology it targets. The portfolio includes Arabic.AI, a company specializing in corporate AI in Arabic backed by Saudi Human and a Qualcomm partnership; Sully.ai, a healthcare solutions firm that documented a case study with Nvidia showing a 90 % reduction in inference costs and a 65 % improvement in medical response speed. Investments also include Andromeda Surgical, a maker of autonomous smart robotic surgery, before its first financing round of $15 million, as well as the smart fundraising platform Metal, in which Viz Ventures invested alongside Y Combinator and Andreessen Horowitz, and Bordi AI.

Aligning with global venture capital giants such as Andreessen Horowitz, 8VC, and Baidu Ventures reflects the regional teams' ability to access high-quality financing rounds.Today the firm manages capital for more than 50 investors from sovereign entities, listed companies, and family offices in Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and India, with teams spread across Muscat, Dubai, and Riyadh, giving it a cross-border network that opens doors for its portfolio companies in regional markets.

This financing path reveals what is changing in practice for entrepreneurs and engineers in the Gulf, Egypt, and the region; investment liquidity no longer seeks fast consumer-app interfaces but is moving toward engineering efficiency and solving complex frictions within organizations. For a tech founder in Muscat, Riyadh, or Cairo, the presence of these funds means project valuation is now tied to the ability to reduce processing costs and deliver measurable operational value, as demonstrated by the portfolio’s experience in healthcare and language. It also requires local startups to partner with investors who have cross-market networks, because the cost of slow capital has become prohibitive amid global technological acceleration.

Building AI assets in the region requires investment courage that precedes general market consensus. When sovereign funds place their weight behind local investment managers who understand founders' ecosystems and sit with them in early founding rooms, venture capital transforms from a mere financial tool into a sovereign engine that ensures the region is not always a consumer of technologies created elsewhere.