• Phaze Ventures says over $40 million is committed against a combined target of more than $75 million; the remainder is still under discussion.
• Phaze Ventures Fund II is anchored by ITHCA Group, Ominvest and Oman LNG Development Foundation; Phaze Ventures Oman Fund is anchored by Future Fund Oman.
• The firm backs early-stage B2B AI and deeptech, typically pre-seed to Series A with tickets of $100,000 to $2 million, per Oman Observer.
• Most portfolio cheque sizes are undisclosed, so returns and valuations cannot be checked from public material.
• Anchor-heavy, state-linked funding is a signal of domestic policy backing, not proof of investment performance.

Phaze Ventures, a Muscat-based early-stage venture firm, has launched two AI and deeptech funds with a combined target of more than $75 million, and says it has secured over $40 million in commitments so far, according to Wamda. The raise matters because it shows Gulf sovereign-linked capital funding a locally rooted manager, but the headline number is a target, not a close. Roughly half remains to be raised.

What is confirmed, and what is not

Wamda reports that the commitments exceed $40 million and that talks continue to reach $75 million. Those are stated commitments from the firm's account, and the coverage reviewed does not cite a regulatory filing or an itemised list of limited partners. Until a final close is announced, the $75 million figure should be read as an ambition, and the commitment total as a claim made by the manager.

Two vehicles, two mandates

Per Wamda, Phaze Ventures Fund II is anchored by ITHCA Group, a subsidiary of Oman Investment Authority, alongside Ominvest and Oman LNG Development Foundation, and continues the firm's global AI and deeptech mandate. Phaze Ventures Oman Fund is backed by Future Fund Oman and is aimed at domestic AI-enabled businesses. The split separates outward-looking exposure from a home-market development brief.

Track record is partly visible

Oman Observer reports Phaze invested in Arabic.AI's $15 million Series A in May 2025, and participated in Andromeda Surgical's $15 million Series A, led by Standard Capital and announced on August 4. It also lists Boardy.ai, Sully.ai and Clarity among AI holdings. The same report states that amounts committed to most portfolio companies have not been publicly disclosed.

Why the anchor mix matters

Anchors tied to Oman Investment Authority, a listed-company investor and a national fund suggest policy support for building a domestic venture manager. That helps fundraising certainty, but it does not by itself indicate returns. Investors in funds this size should ask about fee terms, domestic-allocation requirements and how much of Fund II must be deployed in Oman; none of this is disclosed in the sources reviewed.

Verdict

Treat this as a solid but incomplete raise. Over $40 million of commitments from state-linked anchors is meaningful for Oman's ecosystem, yet the target is unmet, deal terms are undisclosed and portfolio sizing is thin. The signal to watch is a final close and named limited partners, which would convert a stated ambition into a verifiable fund.