Inovia Capital is opening an office in Abu Dhabi, as the Montreal-based venture investment firm attempts to build closer ties with the Gulf region’s fast-growing tech and investment sector.

The new office comes as Inovia gears up to raise two new funds next year, CEO Chris Arsenault told The Logic. Arsenault added that Gulf-region investors are keen to back the firm and its portfolio companies.

Inovia has been exploring sales and investment opportunities for its portfolio companies in the region for a number of years, Arsenault said. Earlier this fall, the firm led a delegation of tech entrepreneurs, investors and researchers to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia to meet government officials, sovereign-wealth funds and large regional corporations to strengthen business relationships between Canada and the Gulf countries.

Arsenault said the trip has already led to a $25-million investment into one portfolio company, a signed commercial agreement for another and nine more commercial deals now in negotiation.

Several of Inovia’s portfolio firms, including Cohere, Novisto, Hopper and Flare, already have customers, offices or commercial partnerships in the Gulf. Arsenault told The Logic the firm’s ties in the region made establishing a permanent presence there a natural next step. 

The new office will be based in the Abu Dhabi Global Market, a business-friendly jurisdiction with its own corporate, commercial and financial services rules based on English common law. Claire Glossop Irani, Inovia’s head of strategic partnerships, is relocating to the city to lead the office. Arsenault said the office will add more people as its business in the region grows. It’s the third international location for the firm, which has offices in London, the Bay Area and across Canada. 

Inovia was drawn to the Gulf primarily as a marketplace and source of capital for its portfolio companies, Arsenault said. Saudi Arabia and the UAE have become two of the most aggressive adopters of advanced technology worldwide, as governments in the region pour money into AI, cloud infrastructure, energy transition and national-scale digitalization programs. “They obviously have capital to deploy,” said Arsenault, and “they’re looking for partners.”

Ottawa’s growing engagement with the region is “a big plus” for Canadian firms seeking commercial agreements in the Gulf, Arsenault said. The federal government recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the UAE focused on AI and digital infrastructure. Prime Minister Mark Carney was in Abu Dhabi Thursday, where he signed an investment pact with the UAE—part of Canada’s broader push to advance trade discussions with the region as it attempts to diversify exports beyond the U.S. 

Beyond helping portfolio companies clinch sales and financing in the Middle East, Arsenault said the Abu Dhabi office plans to eventually make investments in the region’s fledgling tech sector. “The ecosystem of local companies is still very young,” he said, but it’s growing “extremely fast,” he added. Inovia took a similar approach in Europe, Arsenault said, where early relationship-building out of its London office eventually led to local investments and a regional fund. A fund tied to the Middle East is part of Inovia’s longer-term strategy, said Arsenault.