Mubadala Capital’s Ibrahim Ajami plans own venture fund

Ibrahim Ajami, the head of ventures at Mubadala Capital, plans to leave next year to launch his own venture investment business, the Financial Times reported. The proposed departure would mark a new chapter for an executive who helped build the Abu Dhabi investor’s presence in technology investing.

Ajami is a senior executive at the private capital arm of Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund. His planned move would take him from overseeing an established institutional investment platform to building a separate firm, with its own fundraising requirements and investment mandate.

A separate account by startup publication FWDstart, citing the Financial Times, said the proposed firm would be called Noha and target about $500 million for its debut fund. It reported that Mubadala Capital was expected to provide several hundred million dollars in seed capital, although discussions were continuing and no final investment decisions had been made.

That account said the investment strategy would concentrate predominantly on US startups, with a smaller allocation to the United Arab Emirates and other markets. A small group from Ajami’s existing San Francisco team would initially staff the business, according to the report, suggesting continuity in personnel even as the proposed firm takes a separate organizational form.

Mubadala Capital’s official leadership biography identifies Ajami as a senior partner and head of ventures, responsible for its global strategy in technology and healthcare. It says he joined Mubadala in 2006 and launched its ventures platform in San Francisco in 2016, leading a multidisciplinary team that has invested in more than 100 companies.

His background also extends to the infrastructure underpinning the technology industry. According to the same biography, Ajami previously built and led Mubadala’s semiconductor and advanced technology strategy and was a founding member of GlobalFoundries, giving his career a span that reaches beyond startup financing into semiconductor manufacturing.

The proposed launch matters because establishing an independent manager is different from directing investments within a large institution. A new firm must secure commitments and establish its operating structure, while any backing from a former employer can preserve financial ties after an executive’s departure. In Ajami’s case, the reported Mubadala support would make that relationship an important part of the proposed business.

For now, the reported departure and fund launch remain plans rather than completed events. The next milestones would be confirmation of Ajami’s transition, the new firm’s structure and investor commitments. With funding discussions reportedly unfinished, the eventual scale and timing of the business remain subject to those arrangements being finalized.