Arāya Ventures, the venture capital firm founded by Managing Partner Rupa Popat, today announces its expansion into the Middle East. The firm has completed a second close of US$23 million from its debut US$25 million Arāya Super Angel Fund, launched its first ĀVA Investment Academy course in Riyadh, and signed a strategic partnership with the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Academy to launch in Dubai.
This expansion follows strong early momentum in the UK, where Arāya recently secured a landmark commitment of US$7 million from British Business Investments, a subsidiary of the British Business Bank. This milestone investment was made through the Regional Angels Programme and marks the first time British Business Investments has backed a Solo GP. The commitment reinforces institutional confidence in Arāya’s model and adds credibility to the fund’s mission to support values-led innovation.
Arāya intends to invest in up to 60 pre-seed and seed-stage start-ups over four years, focusing on transforming the way we live and work across Health, FinTech, Commerce, and the Future of Work. Over half of its current portfolio consists of AI-native companies, including Capably, Research Grid, and Cold AI. The fund is actively expanding in the Gulf and is set to announce its first UAE investment imminently — capitalising on the region’s growing prominence as a hub for artificial intelligence and emerging technologies.
As part of this regional growth, Arāya is also launching the ĀVA Investment Academy — a pioneering angel investing education programme. Designed for senior executives, scale-up employees, entrepreneurs and those interested in start-up investing, the first courses will take place in Riyadh on 19 April and in Dubai, in partnership with the DIFC Academy, on 30 April 2025. Further launches are planned in Abu Dhabi, Doha, Kuwait City, Manama, Muscat, and Sharjah over the next 12 months. Participants will gain access to a world-class curriculum and expert-led insights to help them navigate and engage confidently in the early-stage investment landscape.
“Expanding into the Middle East marks a pivotal step in Arāya’s journey,” stated Popat.
“The region’s appetite for innovation, its forward-thinking ecosystem, and its AI leadership make it an ideal partner for our mission. Our goal is to make early-stage investing more accessible, more values-driven, and more global — and these courses are a critical part of that mission.”
Founder and Managing Partner Rupa Popat brings over two decades of experience as an exited entrepreneur and investment banker, with a strong investing track record and several successful exits to date — including recent acquisition offers from Google Ventures and Unilever Ventures. Prior to founding Arāya Ventures, Rupa was Director and Head of UK & Middle East Derivatives at RBC Capital Markets. Following the exit of her business, she went on to advise global firms including Johnson & Johnson and HSBC on their start-up programmes, and also served as entrepreneur-in-residence at Morgan Stanley Inclusive Ventures EMEA.
She is joined by Mitul Ruparelia, who has recently been appointed General Partner for the Arāya global series. Mitul brings over 20 years of experience scaling global technology businesses, having held senior leadership roles at BlackBerry, SAP, Siteimprove, and Vision-Box. He invented a patented routing platform that helped drive US$150 million ARR at Sybase 365, leading to its US$5.8 billion acquisition by SAP. He has led go-to-market strategy, enterprise sales and revenue growth for both start-ups and scale-ups, and has helped early-stage ventures reach valuations exceeding US$1 billion.
In the Middle East, he has worked with prominent organisations such as Etisalat, du, STC, Mobily, Zain, the Ministry of Interior, and Emirates Group. His regional expertise will be key as Arāya builds its investment pipeline in AI and emerging technologies across the region.
“The Middle East has long been at the forefront of ambitious digital transformation, and I’ve seen firsthand how visionary organisations across the region are driving real change,” stated Ruparelia.
“Joining Arāya Ventures at this inflection point — with a bold global thesis and a strong commitment to AI and frontier innovation — is a natural next step. I’m excited to help scale exceptional founders while deepening our presence and partnerships across the GCC and beyond.”
