$75M+ Target: Phaze Ventures Opens Two AI Funds From Oman

Phaze Ventures, a venture capital firm headquartered in Oman, has announced a two-fund platform with a combined target of more than $75 million for AI and deeptech companies. One of the two funds is a dedicated pool for homegrown Omani AI-enabled businesses, and Future Fund Oman is its anchor. According to the firm's press release, datelined Muscat on 28 October 2026, investors have already committed more than $40 million, and talks to reach the full $75 million are ongoing.

📌 Key Takeaways

• Two vehicles: Phaze Ventures Fund II continues the firm's global AI and deeptech mandate. Phaze Ventures Oman Fund is a separate pool for homegrown AI-enabled businesses, as set out in the announcement.
• Omani institutional anchors: Fund II is anchored by ITHCA Group (a subsidiary of the Oman Investment Authority), Ominvest and the Oman LNG Development Foundation. Future Fund Oman anchors the Oman Fund.
• Raised so far: More than $40 million is committed. The $75 million figure is a target, not a closed raise.
• Still undisclosed: The size of each fund, any minimum share reserved for Omani start-ups, and a final close date.

💰 What Phaze Ventures announced

The release describes Phaze as Oman's oldest private venture capital firm. It was founded in 2018, has teams in Muscat, Dubai and Riyadh, and says it manages capital for more than 50 investors. Those investors include sovereign entities, listed companies, corporates and family offices from Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, India and other markets.

The new platform splits the firm's capital by geography and purpose:

Phaze also tied the launch to Oman's plans for an International Financial Centre. That is the firm's own framing; the release does not say whether either fund will be domiciled in or regulated through such a centre.

🇴🇲 The Oman Fund is the local story

For Omani founders, the second vehicle matters most. Future Fund Oman was launched by the Oman Investment Authority in January 2024 with RO 2 billion to deploy over five years. According to the Ministry of Finance announcement, 90% of that capital goes to direct project investment, 7% to SMEs and 3% to start-ups. Anchoring a specialist AI fund managed by a private Omani firm is one way that small start-up allocation can reach early-stage companies without the state picking each deal itself.

ITHCA's role is not new. It also took part in local deals alongside Phaze. In January 2026, for example, Phaze joined a $7.5 million round for Omani school-transport platform eMushrif. Jasoor Ventures led that round, and Ithca Group, Annex Investment and IDO Investment also participated.

🌍 A global AI portfolio, run from Muscat

Most of the names Phaze put forward are not Omani. The release names five of its first 10 investments: Arabic.AI (Arabic-language enterprise AI), Sully.ai (healthcare AI), Andromeda Surgical (robotic surgery), Boardy.ai and Metal (an AI fundraising platform). It lists a16z, 8VC, Standard Capital, Y Combinator and Baidu Ventures as co-investors.

In September, Oman Observer reported that Phaze focuses on early-stage B2B AI and deeptech, typically writing cheques of $100,000 to $2 million from pre-seed to Series A. The same report noted that Phaze's own commitments to most portfolio companies have not been disclosed, and that some of the companies' performance figures are self-reported.

The firm's co-founder and CEO, Abdullah Al Shaksy, called AI "the most disruptive technology shift of our generation" in the same release.

⚠️ What is still unclear

• The money is not all raised. More than $40 million is committed, but the $75 million headline is a target.
• Size of each fund. The release does not say how the commitments are split between Fund II and the Oman Fund. That split decides how much capital actually goes to Omani start-ups.
• No local quota. No minimum share of capital is set aside for Omani companies, and no investment timetable for the Oman Fund has been published.
• Self-reported claims. Portfolio figures, such as the inference-cost savings attributed to Sully.ai, come from the company announcement and have not been independently verified.

🔭 Why this matters for Oman

Oman's AI start-up base is growing. We recently covered how Oman's AI start-up count nearly doubled in a year. But early-stage founders still face a thin pool of specialist risk capital. A dedicated Oman AI fund, anchored by Future Fund Oman and run by a local manager with global co-investor networks, could help fill that gap. Fund II, meanwhile, puts Omani institutional money into global AI deals. That gives local investors exposure to the sector, and the global deal flow could later help Omani companies looking abroad.

This fits the private-sector-led, knowledge-based economy that Oman Vision 2040 calls for. Watch for the final close, the split between the two funds, and the Oman Fund's first local investments. Those will show whether this becomes real capital for Muscat's AI founders or mainly a channel for Omani money into foreign start-ups.