Podcast Summary: The Investor with Joel Palathinkal

Episode: Hasan Haider: Plus Venture Capital
Date: December 8, 2025
Guest: Hasan Haider, Founder & Managing Partner of +VC
Host: Dr. Joel Palathinkal

Episode Overview

This episode features Hasan Haider, a pioneering venture capitalist specializing in early-stage investments across the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region. Hasan shares his unconventional journey into venture capital, discusses the evolution of tech ecosystems in the region, unpacks the operational realities of launching +VC and 500 Startups MENA, and offers insights for both founders and investors navigating emerging markets.

Hasan’s Career Journey into Venture Capital

[01:29-05:35]

• Started in banking, private wealth, and asset management, but didn’t find it fulfilling.
• Launched his own startup in 2007 in Bahrain (“Netflix-like” DVD delivery), at a time when the region lacked an ecosystem or mentors.
• Discovered the value of angel investing through mentorship and recognized a lack of funding support in MENA.
• Founded one of the first angel investment organizations in the region in 2010, which became a case study for Babson College and the World Bank.
• Realized the opportunity beyond Bahrain’s small market; sought to learn from Silicon Valley, where he met Dave McClure and helped launch 500 Startups in MENA.
• Managed 500 Startups’ first international fund for MENA:
  • 181 investments, 2017 vintage
  • “We were the most active investor in the region by far.” [04:42—Hasan]
  • Helped kickstart regional startup activity.
• After fully deploying the 500 Startups fund, launched his own firm (+VC), building a broadly diversified seed-stage portfolio.

Building and Localizing Venture Ecosystems in MENA

[05:57-07:27]

• Based in Bahrain, which provided a talent pool and quick access across the region.
• Early days (2017): First generation of founders, no major exits yet, very few investors or local LPs.
• Needed to adapt Silicon Valley “common knowledge” to the local context (e.g., growth hacking, data-driven decision-making).
• “We had to localize quite a bit. Things that were common knowledge in Silicon Valley just weren’t expected or understood here.” [06:29—Hasan]

Strategic Approach:

• Built teams on the ground in UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia.
• Actively worked to catalyze additional local capital and build broader investor ecosystems from scratch.

The Early Days: Angel Networks and the First Investments

[09:44-12:42]

• Initially, they acted as direct investors, as little capital was available.
• Seed rounds were $200-300K, with average valuations $1-3 million.
• Local capital came mostly from wealthy family offices—investors from traditional industries unfamiliar with tech models.
• Early deals: “$200,000 for 80-90% of the company... These startups at the time were tiny, scratching $5,000 a month in revenues.” [10:55—Hasan]
• This soon changed when large exits, like Talabat (sold to Delivery Hero), souq.com (to Amazon), and Careem (to Uber), demonstrated viable returns and seeded further angel activity.

Accelerator Programs, Knowledge Gaps & Selection Criteria

[12:42-17:31]

• Gradually began running accelerator programming (~2019), but found the classic accelerator model less effective due to small applicant pools.
• Initial focus was on “dojo” style, one-month growth programs with imported mentors—“saw massive transformation” in founder mindsets.
• “Accelerators aren’t for all. They make sense for some founders, but absolutely no sense for others.” [17:31—Hasan]
• Batch models sometimes forced suboptimal selection, given small application volumes. Most successful founders showed intense execution drive.

Notable Quote:

• “All we’re looking for at the early stages is… founders that are getting things done day in, day out… Pretty simple: are you doing anything or not, and is it generally in the right direction?” [19:43—Hasan]

On Demo Days:

• Hasan cautions: “Demo day is not really the best way to see which companies are actually worth investing in or not. I’ve seen some of the worst companies shine on stage.” [17:31—Hasan]

Market Differences: MENA vs. Western Tech

[20:09-22:54]

• Early MENA startups focused on base sectors (e-commerce, payments, logistics).
• “First gen” founders are building foundational businesses; second wave saw fintech, now seeing localized SaaS.
• Local market’s size and GDP are significant: “It’s 350 million people—a large GDP—as big as the US in population.” [21:44—Hasan]
• Still limited deep tech due to market maturity; startup networks and second-generation angel investors are just now forming.

Exit Pathways and Funding Constraints

[23:03-29:53]

• Early-stage VCs can often exit through secondaries at Series B (e.g., 31x and 17x cash on cash cited by Hasan), as later-stage investors look to increase ownership.
• IPO path previously “unthinkable,” now viable due to landmark listings (e.g., Jahez in Saudi Arabia, $2.4B IPO).
• “Five or six companies from our portfolio could IPO in the next 1-2 years.” [25:32—Hasan]
• Lack of late-stage (C/D) capital means most companies need to exit or IPO around $1B+.
• Despite perceptions, local institutional money is not yet invested in VC:
  • “It’s interesting, you’re like, oh, the MENA region has so much money… It’s not being invested in our markets and it’s not being invested in the venture capital space.” [27:27—Hasan]
• Debt is available, but PE players are only just starting to look at late-stage tech, often lacking local context.

Sector & Funding Trends in MENA

[31:02-33:24]

• Most local investment is still channeled to traditional sectors (real estate, industry).
• Early signs of green/clean energy and impact investment pools, but VC remains underfunded.
• Hasan resists “trend-chasing” startups that follow capital or buzzwords, advocating founders build what matters to them (and to the market).
• “We don’t have institutional pools of capital like endowments, we don’t have LPs, even VCs… don’t outgrow the availability of LP capital.” [32:24—Hasan]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “I think I got into this VC stuff by accident...I didn’t really feel like I was doing anything useful in the world.” [01:39]
• “Our fund’s done pretty well. We were the most active investor in the region by far.” [04:42]
• “We had to localize quite a bit... There were things that were...common knowledge in Silicon Valley that just weren’t really expected or understood here.” [06:29]
• “Demo day is not really the best...way to see which companies are actually worth investing in. I’ve seen some of the worst companies shine on stage.” [17:31]
• “It’s just that, it’s pretty simple. Just are you doing anything or not, and is it generally in the right direction?” [19:43]
• “The region is still so nascent. The total amount of venture capital...less than $2 billion last year...such an amazing opportunity that’s being overlooked.” [32:24]
• “There wouldn’t be any other market that I’d be interested in investing in other than here, honestly.” [33:51]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:29] Hasan’s career beginnings and accidental path to VC
• [03:47] Early deals and launching angel activity in MENA
• [05:57] Localizing the Silicon Valley model in MENA
• [09:44] The first investments and angel funding challenges
• [12:47] Start of accelerator programs and selection realities
• [17:31] Limitations of demo day and founder characteristics
• [20:09] Industry trends & market-specific startup evolution
• [23:03] Exit strategies, IPOs, and secondaries
• [27:27] Constraints on late-stage/private capital in MENA VC
• [31:02] Institutional funding trends and sector allocations

Conclusion

This conversation offers a candid, on-the-ground look at the evolution of venture capital in the MENA region—from the ground zero of nascent tech ecosystems to the first successful exits and growing sophistication among founders and investors. Hasan Haider’s insider perspective is invaluable for anyone seeking to understand how capital formation, founder development, and localized strategies combine to build new frontiers in global tech.

For listeners seeking a shortcut into the realities of MENA venture capital, this episode is packed with practical insight, sobering realities, and optimism about the opportunities still up for grabs.