A. SREENIVASA REDDY (ABU DHABI)

Yolo Investments, a venture capital firm, has secured permission from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of ADGM to manage its third and “most ambitious” Fund III, according to a statement from the company.

ADGM’s public registry shows that Financial Services Permission (FSP) was granted to Yolo III Limited on May 19, 2026. The registry also lists certain conditions for the entity, including restrictions on dealing with retail clients and holding client assets. Bhupinder Singh is named as the finance officer, alongside several directors, executive and compliance officers.

Fund III is targeting a $250 million raise to finance Series A to C rounds across “high conviction” ventures with a global mandate and MENA concentration. The fund’s investment thesis is centred on backing “entrepreneurs who move money” across fintech, crypto and gaming sectors.

In its statement, Yolo Investments said Abu Dhabi was a “deliberate choice” because of its English common law framework, the FSRA’s “principles-based” regulatory approach, and access to deep pools of institutional capital. The company said being regulated in the same jurisdiction as its limited partners had become “a prerequisite for institutional allocators.”

The company said the three focus sectors — fintech, crypto and gaming — are increasingly converging into one ecosystem centred on the movement of money itself. “Our fintechs power payment rails for our gaming portfolio; our gaming operators become anchor customers for our fintech and crypto companies,” the company said.

According to the statement, Fund III builds on Fund II’s 51.6% net internal rate of return (IRR) and 1.36x total value to paid-in capital (TVPI) as of December 31, 2025. Deployment will begin immediately upon first close, the company said.

In a LinkedIn post, Tim Heath, Founder of Yolo Group and General Partner at Yolo Investments, said the approval marks the launch of a $250 million fund “targeting the convergence of fintech, crypto and gaming.”

Heath said the entire Yolo Investments team is now based in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and thanked the UAE leadership “for their leadership and resilience in navigating what has been a genuinely turbulent period for the world.”

Commenting on the evolving technology landscape, Heath said “agentic workflows are becoming the foundation of how new businesses are built — not a feature bolted on, but the operating model itself.”

He also pointed to rapid developments in regional payments infrastructure, saying “payment rails across the wider GCC are getting faster and more intelligent, positioning the region to lead the developing world in how money moves.”

On digital assets, Heath said the UAE’s approach to crypto — “regulating and encouraging it as a transparent vehicle for moving funds” — provides “exactly the clarity serious capital has been waiting for.”

Heath added that the UAE gaming ecosystem was also “maturing fast”, with more business-to-business companies entering the sector “not just content supply, but across every business function.”

“Our thesis remains what it has always been: backing entrepreneurs who move money,” Heath said, adding that the company was “proud to play a part” in the development of the industry through both regulated operations and investment activity.