Private sector fund to reallocate funding of up to $7.5m to Jordanian start-ups

AMMAN — The Innovative Startups and SMEs Fund (ISSF), a private-sector-managed fund making investments in innovative start-ups and early-stage SMEs, has announced a strategic reallocation of funding from the existing indirect investment funds to its direct investment companies to support Jordanian SMEs (small- and medium-size enterprises) and start-ups during the coronavirus pandemic. 

According to a recent statement from the fund, the ISSF is reallocating up to $7.5 million of indirect funding to direct companies in two or more steps, starting with $3 million at present.

A total of $2 million in funding will provide liquidity to start-ups that have been affected by the current crisis and require working capital, and $1 million to companies which seek to increase capital to modify their business models or their value propositions to address COVID-19 impacts and opportunities.

Laith Al Qasem, CEO of the ISSF, said in the statement: “As a response to COVID-19’s economic impact on SMEs in Jordan, the ISSF has reallocated money to this fund to support Jordanian SMEs and start-up companies to survive the global economic retraction." 

"We are here to support the entire Jordanian entrepreneurial ecosystem to weather the impacts of this global pandemic to not only survive but be in a position to thrive when the situation stabilises,” Qasem added.

Contrary to the traditional direct investments made by the ISSF thus far, the start-ups benefitting from the convertible notes will not need to have a lead investor, the statement said, adding that eligible start-ups must have already received funding from an institutional investor, which was previously not a requirement for ISSF’s traditional direct investments. The due diligence is covered by the ISSF team, the statement added.

The investment process for convertible notes is expected to be reduced to five weeks instead of the regular 10-week minimum timeline, starting from application submission day to the approval and sign-off.

ISSF will be accepting applications beginning on Sunday via the website: https://issfjo.com/issf-response-to-covid-19/, according to the statement.