Many founders approach a CVC term sheet similarly to any other investment: negotiating valuation, reducing dilution, closing the deal, and then focusing solely on business growth. However, founders can derive significantly greater value from CVCs by adopting the appropriate strategy.

Investors and founders are much alike. As a Founding Partner MENA at Golden Gate Ventures I have built and invested across three emerging ecosystems. In every ecosystem, capital has not been scarce. What is scarce is access to experienced networks and investors who have gone through the full cycle, as well as to the network of investors and strategic partners that help grow the founder’s business. My hope is that this article helps founders understand how investors view and

Global AI development is not about who brings the best foundational model to the market. SMEs and enterprises are widely using multiple models within their organisations, depending on the use case. Currently, the narrative has shifted to who can actually operationalize AI — in the enterprise, at scale, in production. That distinction matters enormously, and it's the reason Golden Gate Ventures’ MENA fund has invested in Invisible Technologies, one of the fastest-growing AI co

Why I Came Back to Tashkent — And Why More VCs Should Last week I traveled back to Tashkent Uzbekistan and joined CEVF 2026 and found myself in an audience of 800 investors, founders, and tech leaders. This was the 5th edition of the Central Eurasian Venture Forum (CEVF 2026). I was there as a speaker, but more importantly, I was there to sign a Memorandum of Understanding between Golden Gate Ventures' MENA fund and IT Park Ventures — formalizing a bridge between the Gulf and

How will Persian Gulf nations sustain their speed of innovation? While a sporting event in Qatar captures the world’s attention,...