At GITEX 2025, leading tech entrepreneur Ron Heinz, Founder and Managing Partner, Oquirrh Ventures, spoke to Veronica Martin about his views on the Middle East as an emerging destination for tech investments, and the potential impact of his investment in Seclore as a change-maker for the regional tech ecosystem.
How do you view the Middle East, particularly the UAE, as an emerging destination for tech investments?
First of all, we’ve made a couple of investments. I run a private equity firm that invests in software companies and Seclore. One Cosmos is another company in our portfolio here. I think the business in the Middle East is really in hypergrowth. Our company, Seclore in particular, generates over 50% of its revenue from this region alone. I’ve never seen this type of growth before – and I’ve been doing this for a long time.
As the region continues to adopt information technology security practices of all kinds, and becomes increasingly compliant with new emerging government mandates and regulations around technology, the potential here is huge. It’s a very exciting moment and I think it’s just the beginning.
What role do you think events like GITEX Global 2025 play in connecting investors with high-potential startups?
GITEX is an excellent platform for connecting with customers, partners, and the broader tech ecosystem. There’s plenty of time to explore, and the ecosystem spans both well-established companies and emerging players like Seclore and One Cosmos. Beyond that, there’s a vast network of smaller companies – getting to know them and arranging meetings in advance is highly worthwhile given the sheer number of participants. Maximising opportunities to meet these companies while we’re here is always extremely valuable from a scheduling and relationship-building perspective.
As an early investor in Seclore, which has a strong presence in this region, how do you see such investments shaping the regional tech ecosystem?
If you look at the growth patterns in the software market years ago, the typical approach was to start by investing in the U.S., then expand to Europe. Today, I think moving into the region early is extremely valuable because the growth opportunities are so exciting. For example, we invested in SLO three years ago when the company had around $11 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR). This year, that number is projected to reach about $40 million, with a significant portion of that growth coming from this region.
We plan to continue investing here and supporting that growth. While it’s hard to predict exactly how large the market can get, based on what I’ve seen so far, the potential is very substantial.
What are your impressions of the UAE’s transformation into a global technology and innovation hub?
Yeah, it’s quite remarkable. On my flight here last night, I was talking to a KLM flight attendant who’s been flying to Dubai for 30 years. She mentioned that over that time, the city just kept adding buildings, continually growing and building infrastructure – it’s phenomenal. I also love that Dubai is easy to get to and that people enjoy coming here. You can really see that reflected in the show here today – it’s a testament to the comfort level and the city’s role as a true technology hub.
From that perspective, it’s fantastic to be here, and we plan to continue investing in the region. We have high expectations for growth, and we’re encouraging more of our portfolio companies – currently nine in our growth portfolio – to establish a presence in the Middle East sooner rather than later. Where in the past it might have been the fourth or fifth market to enter, now we’re putting it right at the top in terms of timing and investment priority.
Image Credit: Oquirrh Ventures
