Al-Farabi ScaleUp. How the program works and who can become a participant

Ivan Didus, Partner & CIO of White Hill Capital

About Me

I am a partner and CIO of the venture fund White Hill Capital. Prior to this, I had over 15 years of corporate experience. My main areas of expertise are e-commerce and FinTech. I held top management positions at companies such as Aliexpress and Alibaba, and worked in Central Asia and Russia.

At InDrive, I developed a separate e-commerce vertical across 46 markets and boldly pivoted toward CVC (Corporate Venture Capital). Last year, together with my friend and colleague, I drafted the initial thesis for InDrive’s corporate venture fund with a budget of $100 million. Its mission is to help technology startups from regions that are insufficiently covered by venture funding.

Together with Aslan Sultanov, we continue to develop the White Hill Capital venture fund. It focuses on launching various initiatives and building bridges between the regions of Central Asia, the Caucasus, and MENA to support technological entrepreneurs.

This year, I began my studies at Stanford University to adopt best practices for our region.

About the Al-Farabi ScaleUp Program

The World Bank became the main operator of the fund. The fund supports early-stage startups—from Seed to Series B—helping industries in Central Asia grow. To expand opportunities for technological entrepreneurs in a limited local market, we focused on the large MENA market.

Earlier this year, we launched the Al-Farabi Hub in Riyadh—a platform for startups looking to enter the Saudi Arabian market. We also initiated the ScaleUp accelerator in partnership with Plug&Play to help entrepreneurs from Central Asia and the Caucasus scale up in MENA.

The ScaleUp program is supported by NCP and the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Digitalization. It is divided into two stages: two months of online training and an offline component in Saudi Arabia. Participants not only gain knowledge from experts and trackers but also actively interact with clients, regulators, and partners, creating real business solutions.

Program features:

1. The first accelerator for companies from Central Asia with a focus on Saudi Arabia. It is designed to help companies establish their business, minimizing theoretical content and emphasizing initial sales. As a fund, we are ready to invest in successful companies.

2. It is designed to help companies establish their business, minimizing theoretical content and emphasizing initial sales.

3. As a fund, we are ready to invest in successful companies. VC Back Acceleration—assistance and investment from our fund.

Participation in the Program

We target companies that have reached a certain level of revenue, at least $10,000 MRR, and have developed in their home market. These companies must have already passed the product-market fit stage, understand their customers, and know their needs in the new region. It is also important that founders have sufficient resources to focus on the new market so as not to miss opportunities due to lack of capacity.

We look at various industries but prefer e-commerce, FinTech, SaaS solutions, as well as EdTech, MedTech, logistics, and ProgTech—these are areas that interest our partners in Saudi Arabia as well. However, we are not limited to them.

To apply, you need to fill out the form on the website. After prescreening, we will offer an interview, and based on its results, we will make a decision on the project. Our partners in Saudi Arabia actively participate in the evaluation.

Recommendations

1. Do not forget about the go-to-market strategy. Many startups focus on the product, technological solution, and uniqueness, but in 50% of cases, or even more, what matters is how you implement sales and marketing.

2. Do not be afraid of pivots. If a certain direction does not work out, it is not scary. I have seen many cases where startups changed direction several times and, eventually, on the third attempt, found the right path, becoming large and successful companies.

3. Raise funds for a period of 12–18 months. Approach this issue rationally and practically.

Within the fund, we adopt an interesting strategy: we consider projects and actively work with our portfolio companies, building entrepreneurial relationships with them and deeply understanding their needs. We are ready to help with business development. If our competencies and resources can help your company grow larger, stronger, and more successful, we are always open to contact.

Accelerators are increasingly focusing on AI—50–70% of solutions are built on artificial intelligence. However, I would recommend considering AI as an additional tool rather than the main focus. Projects should be built based on your expertise, while improving them with AI. Investments in AI are decreasing because investors want to see how it increases efficiency. Trends include task automation and the use of large language models. It is also worth paying attention to geographical specifics, focusing on specific countries and regions, to establish strong roots in a large economy and enter new markets.

Plans

The plans are ambitious—to create a regular event that will serve as a bridge between the two regions. In Central Asia, companies at the Series A round often do not know where to go next due to difficulties in raising capital. We want to solve this problem by providing the opportunity to grow in two markets and raise Series A and B investments. The goal of the program is to help companies develop and improve the world through technology.