Dubai Integrated Economic Zones Authority (DIEZ) has doubled the venture fund managed by its investment arm, Oraseya Capital, from AED500 million to AED1 billion — about $272 million. The expansion, announced October 11, 2026, also raises Oraseya's maximum investment per company from $3 million to $6 million (AED22 million), letting it write larger cheques into later-stage rounds. DIEZ launched Oraseya in November 2023 with the original AED500 million fund and a remit running from pre-seed through Series B for companies in Dubai and international businesses seeking to establish operations there. The enlarged mandate now extends beyond Series B while retaining early-stage investing, and — crucially — the scope widens beyond companies directly linked to the UAE to cover global companies of strategic relevance to the country wherever they are based.

The striking part is not the money but the mandate change. Government-backed Gulf vehicles typically anchor their deploying to local ecosystems; Oraseya will now target overseas businesses with no direct UAE link, so long as they are deemed strategically relevant to the country. That reframes a Dubai economic-zone fund as a geopolitical capital tool aligned with the Dubai Economic Agenda, D33, which DIEZ cites as the rationale for reinforcing Dubai's position as a global hub for venture capital and future industries. Per FWDStart, the investor will target businesses of strategic relevance to the UAE alongside its early-stage investments — a dual track that effectively turns a regional accelerator-adjacent fund into an international growth-stage player in under three years.

The expansion builds on a fast accumulation of track record. Oraseya now holds 66 active portfolio companies and has averaged around 25 investments a year since launch, according to DIEZ. Citing MAGNiTT data, DIEZ says the fund ranked as the UAE's most active investor by deal count in 2024, retained that position in 2025, and again ranked first in the UAE by both overall deal count and early-stage activity in MAGNiTT's H1 2026 rankings, placing second across MENA in both categories. The fund was also named 'Venture Capital Firm of the Year' at the Entrepreneur Middle East Awards 2025. Recent deals span the stage range: Calo's $39 million Series B extension in July 2025, SME lender erad's $22 million Series A in September 2026, and a co-led $2 million seed for AI commerce startup Revora with i2i Ventures in June.

Oraseya's move — reported by both FWDStart and ARN News Centre — keeps Series B-and-beyond capital onshore and lets the fund participate in larger rounds it previously could not. It also lands in a busy week for regional venture news: FWDStart's round-up notes Saudi auto-parts platform Autobia raised a $12 million Series A led by Artal Capital, UAE-linked investors circled OpenAI's $1.4 trillion valuation discussion, and Endeavor closed a $320 million fifth fund. Oraseya's doubling signals that Gulf state capital intends to compete for scale deals rather than cede them abroad.

Despite the growth-stage tilt, Oraseya is not abandoning its origins. Its SANDBOX accelerator, which began in 2022 before becoming part of Oraseya, continues to target pre-seed and seed-stage tech startups with a $150,000 investment plus five months of support covering fundraising, commercial development and investor access, per FWDStart. The next cohort is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2027, feeding the pipeline that the enlarged fund can now follow through Series B and beyond.