An early-stage fund backing post-MVP, impact-driven founders building deeptech, applied AI and data infrastructure for the energy and industrial operations of MENA.
What we back
We invest at the post-MVP stage in impact-driven deeptech, applied AI and data infrastructure for energy and industrial operations across MENA — led by operators, not generalists.
Energy storage, grid and power systems, and the hardware that turns decarbonisation into deployed infrastructure across MENA.
Applied AI that turns energy and industrial operations into real-time intelligence, and the data-and-trust layer behind industrial and commodity flows.
Aligned with the national strategies of the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, and the wider MENA region.
Every investment must clear two tests — venture-scale returns and measurable, impact-driven operational outcomes: energy saved, emissions avoided, downtime removed.
Scaler Capital is a signatory to the Mensarius Oath of Ethical Investing — we invest with integrity and transparency, and in alignment with the founders and investors we serve.
About
Scaler Capital is led by two engineer-entrepreneurs turned General Partners with complementary expertise across the full deeptech deployment stack — from first institutional cheque to industrial pilot, commercial deployment and regional scale.
Both Partners are engineers by training and founders by experience. They have built, operated and exited businesses in complex industrial environments — giving Scaler technical depth, operator judgement and founder empathy rarely found in venture capital.
Katerina Hayes brings 17 years across offshore oil & gas and complex industrial environments — from $1B+ Sakhalin EPC megaprojects and North Sea FPSO commissioning to founding her own offshore instrumentation & controls engineering firm serving Wood Group, TAQA and Shell. As an entrepreneur, she has raised angel capital and returned it through a successful exit. Her edge is connecting technology, capital and markets: a global network spanning energy, mining, industrial technology, government and market entry, with deep relationships across the GCC, UK and international markets.
Ali Al-Marjibi brings the perspective of an industrial technology operator and energy specialist. He spent 11+ years managing multimillion-dollar procurement programmes for PDO and Shell megaprojects at Petrofac, then led development and deployment of applied AI across GCC industrial and financial sectors — including computer vision for industrial safety and HSE compliance, and AI solutions for regional banking. He holds a Master's in Renewable Energy focused on hydrogen supply-chain economics.
Together, the Partners have sat on every side of the table founders must win over: the operator running the plant, the procurement lead awarding the contract, the entrepreneur raising the round, and the advisor guiding institutional capital.
For LPs, this means a team that can price technical risk with an engineer's rigour and create value beyond the balance sheet.
For founders, it means Partners who have personally navigated the path from technical validation to institutional adoption — and open the doors that matter: pilot sites, national operators, government stakeholders, strategic partners and follow-on capital.
Scaler invests in applied AI, industrial deeptech, infrastructure and the energy transition — technologies solving consequential industrial problems with the potential to scale globally.
We don't just invest in deeptech. We get it deployed.
Who we back
Post-MVP operators who pair deep technical expertise with disciplined capital allocation and a sustainable, impact-driven thesis.
Subject-matter expertise wins. We back teams with real operating experience in energy, industrial or deeptech — founders who understand the problem from the inside and have earned the right to solve it.
Founders who know what it takes to succeed in both technology and numbers. Capital efficiency, clear milestones, and a credible path from pilot to deployed infrastructure.
Technologies that solve real operational problems and create durable, measurable impact — easier to recycle, cleaner to run, safer to operate, and better for the environment and the people who depend on them.
We look for businesses where venture-scale returns and operational impact move in the same direction — not as a trade-off, but as a reinforcing loop.
Team
CO-FOUNDER, GENERAL PARTNER
Deeptech · Strategy · Capital Formation
General Partner , 17 years in offshore and onshore oil & gas operations, EPC megaprojects, Exxon, Shell, KMNG, Maersk, TAQA Energy. With track record investment, innovation, venture ecosystems, economic development. Across UK and MENA.
LinkedIn ↗
CO-FOUNDER, GENERAL PARTNER
Applied AI · Industrial Deployment · Energy Transition
General Partner at Scaler Capital , technology leader with 11+ years managing multimillion-dollar procurement programmes for PDO and Shell megaprojects at Petrofac. Brings an operator’s understanding of how deeptech moves from technical validation to institutional adoption, with a regional network across Oman, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain.
LinkedIn ↗Family offices and angels — if our thesis on early-stage, impact-driven deeptech in MENA resonates, there’s room to come in as a founding investor in Fund I. Start a private conversation.
Post-MVP founders — tell us what you’re building, the impact it delivers, and why now.