As global VC funding retreats, three serial entrepreneurs bet on MENA’s ‘golden moment’ for AI, reinvesting their $350M exit to empower the next generation of entrepreneurs.
Dubai, Feb. 27, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — While venture capital funding contracted globally in 2024, three founders who turned their bootstrapped startup into a $350M exit are taking a contrarian approach. Today, UAE-based venture builder Disrupt.com announces a $100M commitment to build and back AI-first technology ventures globally.
Founded by Aaqib Gadit, Uzair Gadit, and Umair Gadit – three university friends who grew up in the same household – Disrupt.com represents the founders’ reinvestment of capital following their successful 2022 exit of cloud hosting platform Cloudways to US-listed Digital Ocean Holdings. The $350M acquisition marked the largest exit in Pakistan’s technology sector to date, with the founders now channeling their entrepreneurial expertise and capital back into the ecosystem through a unique venture building approach from their UAE headquarters.
Disrupt.com founders: (L to R) Aaqib Gadit, Umair Gadit and Uzair Gadit.
Having already deployed over $40M across their portfolio – including in four growth-stage companies built from idea stage, seven investments in early-stage companies, and an exit valued at $350 million – this new $100M commitment represents a significant expansion of their venture building activities. With a dedicated team of 650+ professionals, Disrupt.com provides not just capital but also the technical and operational expertise startups need to scale.
“Now is the time to be doubling down on our experience, financial investment and commitment required to help build the next wave of startups that will shape the future of the world as we know it. With Web 3.0 in its infancy and AI storming into our lives, the opportunity to problem solve and create businesses that will fit the needs of how people live and work is up for the taking. Our region can not only keep up, but lead the way. We are excited to see where this journey will take us,” said founding partner Aaqib Gadit.
Unlike traditional venture capital firms, Disrupt.com employs a three-pronged approach to creating value: building their own startups from scratch, co-building ventures alongside external founders, and making strategic investments in early-stage startups and VC funds. Through their unique ‘CoBuild’ model, they function as fractional co-founders, providing dedicated engineering, go-to-market, and operations teams to drive early adoption in a capital-efficient way.
The firm’s $100M commitment targets five strategic sectors: artificial intelligence as a cross-cutting theme, plus cybersecurity, Web3.0, automotive technology, and retail innovation. Disrupt.com primarily targets pre-seed to Series A stage startups that demonstrate strong organic growth potential and clear paths to profitability, rather than pursuing growth at all costs.
The announcement comes as regional funding has declined sharply, with MENA venture capital investment down 29% to just under $2B in 2024, according to Magnitt. Saudi startups saw a 44% funding drop to $750M, while UAE funding decreased 8% to $613M, creating a challenging environment for early-stage ventures.
Disrupt.com’s current portfolio showcases their model’s effectiveness, including ZigChain, a Web3.0 platform that has scaled to 500,000+ users and hundreds of millions in managed assets; PureSquare, a cybersecurity venture; and UAE-homegrown fitness apparel brand Squatwolf. The firm has already deployed capital as a strategic investor in several AI-focused startups including organizational transformation platform Agentnoon and climate action scaling tool Ahya.
Bartolome R. Bordallo, Co-Founder & CEO of ZigChain, highlighted the venture builder’s distinctive approach: “Some investors write checks. Disrupt.com builds with you. They’ve helped us scale from a few early adopters to managing hundreds of millions in assets and launching our own blockchain.”
Anam Khalid and Wajdan Gul, Co-founders of UAE-based fitness apparel brand Squatwolf, emphasize the founder-first approach: “With Disrupt, you get founder-friendly partners because they’re founders themselves. They understand our challenges and opportunities in a way traditional investors simply cannot.”
Looking ahead, Disrupt.com will direct its $100M commitment toward ventures with strong product-market fit, well-researched idea-market alignment, and robust unit economics pointing toward profitability.
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About Disrupt
Disrupt.com is a leading venture builder and investor that partners with ambitious entrepreneurs to build, scale and invest in high-potential, globally focused technology startups. With a focus on transformative technologies and innovative business models that reshape industries – the firm is dedicated to providing entrepreneurs hands-on expertise and navigating the challenging path to scale.
With a portfolio of 10+ companies, including notable exits such as the $350 million acquisition of Cloudways by DigitalOcean, the firm provides a combination of strategic guidance, operational expertise, and access to a network of industry leaders. These resources enable startups to achieve the milestones necessary for long-term success. For more information please visit: https://disrupt.com/
CONTACT: For further information please contact the Disrupt press office: Bilal Mahmood on b.mahmood@stockwoodstrategy.com or +44 (0) 771 400 7257.
