CFO Take: Oman's Phaze Ventures AI funds, $75M target, and your raise
By Akram El-Karrar, CPA, Fractional CFO, founder of OmniScope360 · What happened
Wamda reported on 28 October 2026 that Oman-based Phaze Ventures has launched two venture funds targeting more than $75 million combined. The funds will invest in AI and deeptech startups in Oman and international markets.
Over $40 million in investor commitments is already secured, with ongoing discussions to grow the funds to $75 million.
The figures, as reported
- Two funds, targeting over $75 million combined, with over $40 million in commitments to date.
- Phaze Ventures Fund II is anchored by ITHCA Group (a subsidiary of Oman Investment Authority), Ominvest and Oman LNG Development Foundation.
- Phaze Ventures Oman Fund is anchored by Future Fund Oman and focuses on domestic AI-enabled businesses.
- The platform has made 10 investments, including Arabic.AI, Sully.ai, Andromeda Surgical, Boardy.ai and Metal.
- Andromeda Surgical raised a US$15 million Series A led by Standard Capital after Phaze backed it early.
- Phaze manages capital for more than 50 investors and has team members in Muscat, Dubai and Riyadh.
Source: Wamda, 28 October 2026.
The CFO reading
A dedicated Oman fund backed by Future Fund Oman means there is now a pool of local capital earmarked for homegrown AI-enabled businesses. That changes your funding map: a local seed or pre-seed round is no longer only a friends-and-family or grant question.
But a fund with $40 million committed against a $75 million target is still raising. It will deploy carefully, and it will back founders whose numbers are clean. In the quote Phaze's co-founder gave to Wamda, the firm says it backs founders who combine domain expertise with strong engineering. For you, that translates into one test: can you show, in numbers, that each deployment makes money?
For AI startups the cost line that decides this is inference and compute. Investors will ask for gross margin after those costs, not revenue alone. Know your cost per customer and your payback before the first meeting.
What to do this month
- Build a 13-week cash forecast and a 12-month runway view, so you can state exactly how many months a raise buys you.
- Split cost of revenue from operating costs, and put compute and cloud spend in cost of revenue. Show gross margin by product.
- Calculate unit economics: customer acquisition cost, payback period and contribution margin per customer.
- Clean your cap table and have monthly management accounts ready, closed within 10 working days.
- Map your funding sources side by side: local fund, regional fund, grants and Riyada benefits, and model dilution for each.
Next step
Start with the funding readiness guide: https://omniscope360.com/funding-readiness/ and the cash flow guide: https://omniscope360.com/cash-flow-forecasting/
Want a second pair of eyes on your numbers before you pitch? Book a free first call: https://omniscope360.com/book/
FAQ
Who is behind the new Phaze Ventures funds?
Phaze Ventures Fund II is anchored by ITHCA Group, Ominvest and Oman LNG Development Foundation. The Oman Fund is anchored by Future Fund Oman.
What should an Omani AI startup prepare before approaching a fund?
Prepare a cash forecast, gross margin after compute costs, unit economics, a clean cap table and monthly management accounts. These show an investor how your money turns into returns.
Where do these figures come from?
From Wamda, published on 28 October 2026: https://wamda.com/2026/10/omans-phaze-ventures-launches-ai-funds-targeting-75-million
CFO Take weekly
Every Sunday: the week's startup news that matters in Oman and the GCC, and what it means for your numbers. Free.