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.
Why Scaler
Scaler is led by two operating partners with complementary edges across the full deeptech deployment stack — from first cheque to industrial pilot to scale. Katerina Hayes brings 17 years in offshore oil & gas operations — from $1B Sakhalin EPC megaprojects to North Sea FPSO commissioning and her own offshore I&C engineering firm serving Wood Group, TAQA and Shell — plus a founder’s record of building and exiting ventures, having raised from angels and returned their capital through a full exit. Olga Bertosh brings CFO-grade financial governance and compliance from board-level roles across regulated sectors — the operational rigour that makes a first fund safe to back. We lead the first institutional cheque, then open the pilot sites, relationships, and follow-on syndicate that turn a validated technology into a deployed one.
Conviction · Access · Governance · Industrial Reach
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
Founder & Managing Partner
Deeptech · Strategy · Capital Formation
17 years in offshore oil & gas operations (Sakhalin EPC megaprojects; North Sea FPSO commissioning); founder of a North Sea offshore I&C engineering firm serving Wood Group, TAQA and Shell; founder-operator with multiple ventures built and a full exit.
LinkedIn ↗
Partner
Finance · Governance · Risk
ACCA Chartered Accountant. CFO and board-level commercial & finance leader. Partner at Novatum Partners (governance, risk and compliance for regulated businesses); former CFO of fintech platform Novatum Tech; former Financial & Commercial Director, Team Prevent UK.
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.