evidoria

← Back to browse

Good practice Imported

Oasis500 — MENA's Pioneer Early-Stage Tech Accelerator (Amman)

Jordan · Amman · See the Jordan profile · See the Amman profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 42% 71/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Founded in Amman in 2010, Oasis500 is one of the MENA region's first early-stage accelerators. By 2026 it had backed 193 startups, generated ~USD 135M in follow-on funding, created ~5,000 jobs, and launched its fourth fund (Oasis Ventures III, USD 20M+).

193 startups
Startups backed since founding (by Feb 2026)
135 USD million
Follow-on financing raised by portfolio companies
5,000 direct and indirect jobs
Jobs attributed to the portfolio
243 USD million
Combined active portfolio valuation
300 direct jobs
ISSF sub-portfolio direct jobs
1,000 indirect jobs
ISSF sub-portfolio indirect jobs
36 %
Female-led companies in ISSF sub-portfolio
5 USD raised per USD 1 invested
External capital raised per USD invested (ISSF sub-portfolio)
Oasis500 — MENA's Pioneer Early-Stage Tech Accelerator (Amman)

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Oasis500 / King Abdullah II Fund for Development
Period
2010–present
Keywords
startup acceleration, venture capital, tech entrepreneurship

Context

Oasis500 was established in Amman in 2010 through the King Abdullah II Fund for Development as one of the Arab world's earliest early-stage tech accelerators, operating as a seed fund and acceleration programme for technology and creative-industry startups across the MENA region.

Activities

The organisation has run four successive fund vehicles, Oasis Ventures I (2010), Oasis Creative Industries (2015), Oasis Ventures II (2019) and Oasis Ventures III (2026, targeting USD 20M+), and its portfolio companies now operate in more than 22 countries.

Results

By February 2026 Oasis500 had backed 193 startups whose portfolio companies had collectively raised over USD 135 million in follow-on financing, reached a combined active valuation of USD 243 million, and were attributed with about 5,000 direct and indirect jobs; a sub-portfolio of 36 startups backed by Jordan's Social Security Investment Fund alone recorded 300 direct and 1,000 indirect jobs, with 36% of those companies female-led and an external-funding multiplier of USD 5 raised for every USD 1 invested.

Conclusions

Sixteen years of continuous operation across four fund vintages, combining royal patronage, sovereign institutional backing and private capital, demonstrates unusual longevity for a MENA venture accelerator, though the headline impact figures rest on fund-launch press releases rather than an independently audited evaluation.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Medium (€50k–€500k)
Time to results
Long (> 3 years)
Staffing & skills
Oasis500 operates as a seed fund and acceleration programme under the King Abdullah II Fund for Development, with the Jordan Social Security Investment Fund co-investing in a dedicated sub-portfolio.

Conditions for success

  • Combining royal patronage (King Abdullah II Fund), sovereign institutional capital (ISSF) and private co-investment to diversify and sustain funding across four fund vintages.
  • Maintaining a continuous fund sequence since 2010 rather than a one-off accelerator cohort.

Common failure modes

  • Impact figures derive mainly from fund-launch press releases rather than independently audited reports, and job-creation counts mix direct and indirect estimates.
  • Governance is primarily private-sector with royal patronage rather than municipal or public administration.

Commonly funded by

Own resources / municipal budget

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

Do you run this practice? Claim it — verified implementers get a public contact pathway and can propose corrections.

Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

Attachments

Similar practices you may find useful