Celesta Capital, a deep technology venture capital firm, announced that it has created a formal partnership with The Sultanate of Oman’s Ministry of Transport, Communications and IT (MTCIT) and the Public Authority for Special Economic and Free Zones (OPAZ).
Celesta Capital has “had a longstanding interest in working with The Sultanate of Oman and strongly believes in the potential for The Sultanate of Oman to become a hub in the Middle East for next-generation technologies.”
Celesta Capital, MTCIT and OPAZ’s agreement “have outlined three initial areas of collaboration including: identifying portfolio companies that can set up, pilot, and test activities for their technologies and solutions in The Sultanate of Oman; assisting companies in setting up a hub of manufacturing operations in The Sultanate of Oman; and helping companies with relevant licenses, regulatory approvals, and registrations to enter the market in Oman and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries with the purpose of expanding and innovating available markets for products and services.”
Sriram Viswanathan, Founding Managing Partner at Celesta Capital, said:
“We’re thrilled to come to this mutual agreement with The Sultanate of Oman’s Ministry of Transport, Communications, and IT, and we’re looking forward to seeing the progress that can be made between our portfolio companies and the ministry’s team of experts. Oman is a critical country as a gateway to the region, whose emerging start-up ecosystem has immense potential. This partnership will support expansion into the Middle Eastern markets for the Celesta portfolio and other pipeline companies.”
Celesta Capital has “built its reputation in Silicon Valley by making key investments in deep tech, bioconvergence, artificial intelligence, and other industries in the United States and India.”
The MTCIT and OPAZ “see the value of working with Celesta Capital to advance these mutual goals, particularly recognizing the potential of participating in a technology ecosystem that spans India, The Sultanate of Oman, and the United States.”
Fahd Al Abri, Director General of Sector Stimulation at the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology, “confirmed that the ministry is continuing its efforts to attract foreign investment to the Sultanate by focusing on attracting international technology companies.”
As noted in the update:
“There is no doubt that the entry of venture capital firm Celesta Capital, which specializes in deep tech investing, into the Omani market opens new horizons in the field of supporting and financing emerging Omani companies and linking them to investment opportunities outside the Sultanate, which opens the way for them to expand in global markets.”