Press release:
Phoenix Venture Partners Limited (“PVP”), an ADGM-based venture capital fund manager, today announced its investment in COFE District LLC (“COFE Tech”), a leading provider of intelligent procurement and commerce infrastructure serving more than 1,000 businesses across the Gulf. Often dubbed the “Salesforce of MENA,” COFE Tech has evolved into one of the region’s leading operators of agentic AI-powered enterprise platforms.
The investment, completed earlier this year, comes as COFE Tech enters its next phase of growth, a milestone that marks the beginning of a strategic partnership aimed at supporting the company throughout its growth journey and eventual IPO readiness. As part of this partnership, Steve Khayat, Founder & CEO of Phoenix Venture Partners, joins the Board of Directors of COFE Tech as PVP’s representative, further reinforcing the firm’s commitment to supporting the company’s long-term growth, governance, and institutional development. Earlier this month, the company closed a pre-IPO funding round at a valuation of US$178 million, putting COFE Tech on course for a targeted listing by 2029.
This investment reflects PVP’s continued conviction in COFE Tech’s vision to redefine procurement, commerce, and enterprise enablement through technology, while reinforcing a long-standing relationship between the two organizations.
Founded in 2018, COFE Tech (formerly COFE App) is an agentic enterprise provider building intelligent procurement and commerce infrastructure for businesses across the Gulf. The company operates across two core business lines, Agentic Procurement, a unified enterprise procurement engine, and Agentic Commerce, a unified enterprise technology infrastructure solution, alongside a direct-to-consumer e-commerce business. COFE Tech serves clients across the aviation, hospitality, retail, food & beverage, and corporate sectors. In the UAE, its customers include Emirates Airlines, Etihad Airways, and Al-Futtaim Group. Across the Gulf, the company serves more than 1,000 clients and 3,000 outlets.
Mr. Khayat commented: “I’ve had the privilege of backing COFE Tech from its earliest days, notably at the pre-Series A stage in 2018, and it’s incredibly rewarding to continue the journey alongside Ali and the team. COFE represents exactly the kind of platform we believe in at PVP, one that starts by solving a simple, high-frequency consumer need and evolves into a deeply integrated ecosystem. Seeing the company grow from its early beginnings into a category-defining player has been remarkable, and we are excited to support its next chapter as it scales toward market leadership, institutional maturity, and ultimately a successful public market outcome. I am also pleased to deepen our engagement through my role on the Board and look forward to working closely with Ali and the team as they execute on this exciting next phase of the company’s journey.”
Mr. Ali Al-Ebrahim, Founder & CEO of Cofe Tech added: “Steve has been part of our journey since the early days, and his continued support reflects the strength of our vision and execution. As we enter this next phase, we look forward to leveraging PVP’s expertise in scaling the business and navigating pre-IPO readiness as we continue building COFE Tech into a global technology platform. We are also delighted to welcome Steve to the Board of Directors and look forward to benefiting from his experience and strategic guidance as we pursue our next stage of growth.”
PVP’s investment included participation from several co-investors drawn from the investor base of Phoenix Venture Partners Innovation Fund CEIC Limited (PVPIF), including KSH Investments LLC, the international investment platform of the Private Department of H.E. Sheikh Mohamed Bin Khalid Al Nahyan and one of PVPIF’s notable investors.
Dr. Ahmed Mansour, CEO of KSH Investments LLC, said: “We are delighted to back COFE Tech alongside Phoenix Venture Partners. COFE is building transformative technology for commerce and procurement, and we are confident in its growth trajectory as it contributes to strengthening the UAE’s position as a global hub for innovation and the new economy.”