Jun 15, 2026 · 28 min · 9 segments
Walid Aradi and Wes Schwalje spent over 15 years at Tahseen Consulting advising heads of state, ministries, and 11 unicorns on navigating the regulatory and political realities of the MENA region…
Wes SchwaljeGuestConor SatleyHost
Waleed AradiGuestSo I'm really excited to talk to you because I love VCs with a clear value add [chuckles] beyond just money or, "We're gonna help you with your next round." So walk me through the value add.
Are you saying that, um, this regulatory path that you can help founders navigate, that help in walking that path, is that a value add, and can you walk me through why that matters for a founder operating in your region?
Look, uh, what, what, what makes, uh, Red Tape Ventures different, um, is that we trait, uh, treat regulation as a, as a, as an opportunity.
Um, most investors run away from sectors that, uh, where regulations are stifling or not well-defined, um, a-and, and, and that's, that's the default move for, for VCs.
Um, call us crazy but, um, you know, when, when something is, is hard enough to kill most startups, um, the founder who solves it actually, uh, you know, uh, it, it becomes very difficult for you to, to replace them.
The regulation itself is the moat, um, and that's why we called ourselves, um, or this fund Red Tape Ventures.
Running towards the red tape and naming your fund after it is, uh, I think a really interesting approach and one that could benefit startups.
Wes, walk me through some of your experience in helping startups walk through that regulation.
So I think, you know, in, in preparing to, to launch this fund, um, a-and in, in speaking to some of the founders that we've backed in the past, you know, we're investors in, like, 40 different, uh, companies, uh, prior to starting our fund.
Um, and I think one of the most interesting conversations that we've had with founders, um, uh, that we've backed in the past, um, was when they mentioned that, um, you know, some-- they would not have considered starting some businesses if they didn't have sort of our support.
Um, so I think that's a pretty unique value add for a fund, um, where some of the portfolio companies and founders are, are telling you that they may not have even started their company if it weren't for, uh, a fund, um, with our particular expertise on the cap table.
Um, I would say that we're, we're also very unique and, and, uh, well-positioned in this market, um, because we've, we've worked across the life cycle of firms.
Uh, our bread and butter tends to be bigger tech companies, but we've worked with soonicorns, unicorns, uh, from Silicon Valley, from South Asia, from Southeast Asia, uh, from Africa, uh, and many places in between.
And the, the depth and breadth of sort of the value add we provide ranges from the, the very genesis of a company, you know, from launching a company on through scaling a company across, uh, uh, pretty vast regions with, with quite different regulations, uh, across our region, which is around 22 countries.
Um, and then we've been fortunate of to work, um, on two of the bigger exits, um, uh, in the region.
Uh, that was, uh, Uber's acquisition of Careem and then the, the netting up of, um, of, uh, Dubizzle into, uh, EMPG.
Um, and, you know, Waleed described our, our value add in broad terms, but, but specifically around sort of launch, um, you know, we're doing licensing of regulatory frameworks.
So I'm really excited to talk to you because I love VCs with a clear value add [chuckles] beyond just money or, "We're gonna help you with your next round." So walk me through the value add.
Are you saying that, um, this regulatory path that you can help founders navigate, that help in walking that path, is that a value add, and can you walk me through why that matters for a founder operating in your region?
Look, uh, what, what, what makes, uh, Red Tape Ventures different, um, is that we trait, uh, treat regulation as a, as a, as an opportunity.
Um, most investors run away from sectors that, uh, where regulations are stifling or not well-defined, um, a-and, and, and that's, that's the default move for, for VCs.
Um, call us crazy but, um, you know, when, when something is, is hard enough to kill most startups, um, the founder who solves it actually, uh, you know, uh, it, it becomes very difficult for you to, to replace them.
The regulation itself is the moat, um, and that's why we called ourselves, um, or this fund Red Tape Ventures.
Running towards the red tape and naming your fund after it is, uh, I think a really interesting approach and one that could benefit startups.
Wes, walk me through some of your experience in helping startups walk through that regulation.
So I think, you know, in, in preparing to, to launch this fund, um, a-and in, in speaking to some of the founders that we've backed in the past, you know, we're investors in, like, 40 different, uh, companies, uh, prior to starting our fund.
Um, and I think one of the most interesting conversations that we've had with founders, um, uh, that we've backed in the past, um, was when they mentioned that, um, you know, some-- they would not have considered starting some businesses if they didn't have sort of our support.
Um, so I think that's a pretty unique value add for a fund, um, where some of the portfolio companies and founders are, are telling you that they may not have even started their company if it weren't for, uh, a fund, um, with our particular expertise on the cap table.
Um, I would say that we're, we're also very unique and, and, uh, well-positioned in this market, um, because we've, we've worked across the life cycle of firms.
Uh, our bread and butter tends to be bigger tech companies, but we've worked with soonicorns, unicorns, uh, from Silicon Valley, from South Asia, from Southeast Asia, uh, from Africa, uh, and many places in between.
And the, the depth and breadth of sort of the value add we provide ranges from the, the very genesis of a company, you know, from launching a company on through scaling a company across, uh, uh, pretty vast regions with, with quite different regulations, uh, across our region, which is around 22 countries.
Um, and then we've been fortunate of to work, um, on two of the bigger exits, um, uh, in the region.
Uh, that was, uh, Uber's acquisition of Careem and then the, the netting up of, um, of, uh, Dubizzle into, uh, EMPG.
Um, and, you know, Waleed described our, our value add in broad terms, but, but specifically around sort of launch, um, you know, we're doing licensing of regulatory frameworks.
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