# Asher Siddiqui

> Asher Siddiqui is a General Partner at Sukna Ventures, a Riyadh-based early-stage venture fund backing software and data-infrastructure startups across MENA. He spent a decade running global M&A and corporate venture at Etisalat (around $15bn in deals), then joined 500 Startups as a partner and investment committee member before settling into the GP role at Sukna. He advises a constellation of funds from Palo Alto to Pakistan and splits time between the San Francisco Bay Area, Dubai, and Riyadh.

- **Role:** General Partner at Sukna Ventures
- **Organizations:** Sukna Ventures, 500 Startups (former), Etisalat Group (former), iMENA Group (founding board), Mobily Ventures (former), Race Capital (advisor), Merus Capital (advisor), Lumikai (board & IC), VI Partners (advisor), Zayn Capital / Bitrate Ventures (advisor), Abu Dhabi Financial Group (advisor)
- **Education:** B.A. (Honors), Business Administration, Unknown, M.Sc., Software Development, Unknown
- **Known for:** 100+ venture investments across MENA, South Asia, and Silicon Valley, Closed roughly $15bn in M&A while at Etisalat, Structured a $26M CERT Abu Dhabi venture vehicle in partnership with the MIT Entrepreneurship Centre

## Career timeline

- **late 1990s** — Founded Asite.com, an enterprise e-procurement portal in London
- **early 2000s** — Co-founded Instantreg.com, an event-registration SaaS in Santa Clara
- **2005-2006** — Part of pre-launch development team at CNBC Africa, Johannesburg
- **2000s** — Built a $26M venture vehicle for CERT Abu Dhabi with MIT Entrepreneurship Centre
- **2000s-2010s** — Group VP and Global Head of M&A and CVC at Etisalat - led ~$15bn in deals over 10 years
- **2010s** — Investment Committee at Mobily Ventures; founding board and IC chair at iMENA Group
- **late 2010s** — Partner and Investment Committee member at 500 Startups (now 500 Global)
- **2020s** — General Partner at Sukna Ventures, Riyadh

## Achievements

- 100+ venture investments across MENA, South Asia, and Silicon Valley
- Closed roughly $15bn in M&A while at Etisalat
- Structured a $26M CERT Abu Dhabi venture vehicle in partnership with the MIT Entrepreneurship Centre
- Founding board member and IC chair at iMENA Group
- Guest lecturer at Stanford's Idea to Market program
- Research collaborator with Stanford's Center for Sustainable Development & Global Competitiveness

## Latest updates

- **2025-02** — Listed attendee at Web Summit Qatar in Doha.

## Links

- Website: https://suknaventures.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashersiddiqui
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/suknaventures
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYFFfq2pFOI

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/asher-siddiqui
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Last updated: 2026-05-20