InsightsJul 2026

Key Trek: building MENA's
bridge to global capital

For all its growth, MENA's venture ecosystem has faced one persistent gap: distance from the world's deepest pools of capital. Key Trek, our annual London roadshow, was built to close it. Three editions in, here is what it has achieved, and what it signals about where investment in the region is heading.

3
Editions since 2023
50+
MENA scale-ups showcased
500+
1-on-1 investor meetings
40+
Global investors, 2025
01The context

Why a London
roadshow

MENA has the founders, the capital base, and the policy momentum. What it has historically lacked is proximity: a direct, high-trust channel to the global investors who write the late-stage cheques. Key Trek is a flagship Key Capital initiative built to close that distance, bringing a curated cohort of the region's best companies to London for a week of intense engagement at the heart of one of the world's deepest capital markets.

01

Highlight the MENA landscape

Give global investors real visibility into the high-potential companies and sectors shaping the region's innovation economy, across fintech, SaaS, AI, PropTech and HealthTech.

02

Encourage cross-border investment

Facilitate long-term capital flow and collaboration between emerging and established markets through meaningful 1-on-1 conversations built on trust.

03

Bridge two ecosystems

Connect global capital with regional innovation, positioning MENA where it belongs: at the intersection of growth and opportunity, in front of the investors who matter.

One week, by design

Curated 1-on-1 meetings

Full days of pre-matched meetings between regional founders and global investors, scheduled around genuine interest and fit.

Markets & ecosystem sessions

A morning markets session with Jefferies, site visits to firms such as Google and HSBC, and participation in the Sifted Summit.

High-trust networking

An investor-only dinner, a founders' night, and the MCIT and NTDP ecosystem mixer, one of Europe's largest MENA tech gatherings.

02The story so far

Three editions,
one growing platform

What began in 2023 as an experiment has become an anchor event in the MENA venture calendar, growing in scale, calibre of investors, and tangible outcomes with every edition.

2025Third edition · September 29 – October 3, London

The largest Trek yet. A curated cohort of MENA's most scalable companies across fintech, SaaS, consumer, AI and digital assets met more than 40 of the world's most active investors, co-hosted with Saudi Arabia's MCIT and NTDP. The week brought together over 300 founders, investors and ecosystem stakeholders.

25
Scale-ups showcased
40+
Global investors
270+
1-on-1 meetings
300+
Total attendees
Investors and founders meeting at Key Trek 2025 in London Key Trek 2025 networking session MENA founders presenting at Key Trek 2025 Key Trek 2025 investor dinner in London One-on-one meeting at Key Trek 2025 Key Trek 2025 mixer attendees Key Capital team at Key Trek 2025 Key Trek 2025 ecosystem gathering
2024Second edition · September 29 – October 5, London

The Trek scaled into one of Europe's largest MENA tech gatherings. Over 30 of the region's best later-stage, venture-backed companies met 17 leading international VCs, supported by MCIT and partners including Jefferies, QED, BECO, PACT VC and RAED. The week closed with an exclusive dinner for 75 investors and a mixer of more than 200 founders and stakeholders.

30+
Regional companies
17
International VCs
250+
1-on-1 meetings
200+
At the mixer
Key Trek 2024 in London MENA founders at Key Trek 2024 Investor meeting at Key Trek 2024 Key Trek 2024 networking dinner Key Trek 2024 panel session Key Trek 2024 mixer in London Founders and investors at Key Trek 2024 Key Trek 2024 gathering Key Trek 2024 event Key Trek 2024 attendees Key Trek 2024 session Key Trek 2024 closing event
2023Inaugural edition · London

The first Key Trek established the format: bring a hand-picked group of MENA founders to London, put them in front of serious international investors, and build the relationships the region's next chapter would be built on. It set the template that every edition since has scaled.

1st
Edition
London
Host city
MENA
Founder cohort
2023
Where it began
The inaugural Key Trek 2023 in London Key Trek 2023 founders Key Trek 2023 investor meeting Key Trek 2023 networking Key Trek 2023 session Key Trek 2023 gathering Key Trek 2023 event in London Key Trek 2023 attendees
03The impact

Measured in relationships,
not just meetings

The real measure of the Trek is not the meetings scheduled, but the relationships and investments that follow. Across three editions, the format has produced introductions that turned into conversations, conversations that turned into capital, and a standing place for MENA's best companies in the calendars of global investors.

"
The Key Trek was a very unique opportunity to meet some of the MENA region's best companies and gain quality local insight about the ecosystem.
Gbenga Ajayi
Partner, QED Investors · Trek 2024
"
The curated one-on-one meetings and networking events provided a powerful platform to showcase our ambitions and traction. We're grateful to the Key Trek for such a high-impact experience that strengthens regional presence on the global stage.
Yazeed El Shamsi
Co-founder & CEO, EJARI · Trek 2024
"
Key Trek gave us access to truly valuable connections. It played a big role in helping us kick off meaningful conversations, a few of which directly led to investment. Easily one of the most impactful experiences we've had as a team.
Shady El Tohfa
Co-founder & CEO, AMENLI · Trek 2023 & 2024
Co-hosts
MCIT · Saudi Ministry of Communications & IT NTDP · National Technology Development Program
Supporting partners & institutions
Jefferies QED Investors 500 Global VentureSouq BECO Capital RAED Ventures PACT VC Hub71 Needl CODE Taylor Wessing
04What comes next

The future of
MENA investment

Key Trek is a snapshot of a larger shift. The same forces that fill a London ballroom with global investors are reshaping how capital enters, grows, and exits the region. Three trends will define the next chapter.

01

From frontier to asset class

International investors now account for roughly half of all venture funding deployed in MENA, and Saudi Arabia and the UAE alone made up 86% of 2025 regional capital. The region has moved from a frontier curiosity to a serious allocation. See Why MENA, why now?

02

The next frontier is liquidity

Primary funding has tripled since 2020, but exits have not kept pace. The next decade of returns will come from the liquidity layer, secondaries, continuation vehicles and structured exits, where the region still has no dedicated player. See why capital is moving to secondaries.

03

Bridges compound

Every relationship built between a regional founder and a global investor lowers the cost of the next one. Initiatives like Key Trek accelerate that flywheel, pulling forward the co-investment, secondary liquidity and eventual public listings that mark a mature ecosystem.

None of this is automatic. A maturing market needs more than capital; it needs the infrastructure of trust, repeated contact, local knowledge, and credible intermediaries, that turns interest into commitment. That is the quiet work the Trek does each year, and the same conviction that underpins everything Key Capital builds: that MENA's best companies deserve world-class access to capital, and that the investors who show up early will define the region's next decade.

↗
The region's next chapter is being written now
Key Trek is one expression of a single thesis: that the distance between MENA's founders and global capital is closing fast, and that the firms building the bridges will capture the value. Whether you are a global investor seeking access to the region's best companies, or a founder ready to meet international capital, we would like to hear from you.
Get in touch