Amman: The Innovative Startups and SMEs Fund (ISSF) on Tuesday disclosed the findings of the World Bank's Implementation Completion and Results Report (ICR), which awarded the Fund a rating of "Highly Satisfactory," the highest category in the World Bank's evaluation framework.
According to Jordan News Agency, the World Bank report completed at the end of March 2026, covering the results of the Fund's first phase through 2025, serves as a validation of ISSF's success in surpassing its operational and investment targets despite economic and geopolitical challenges in the region. The report reflects the achievements of this Jordanian institution, in which the World Bank participated through a financing agreement with the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, alongside a direct investment from the Central Bank of Jordan. This collaboration positively influenced the development and growth of the venture capital investment ecosystem, a primary catalyst for Jordan's entrepreneurship environment.
The announcement was made by ISSF at a roundtable held in Amman, attended by its Chief Executive Officer, Mohammad Al-Muhtaseb, who confirmed that the international assessment titled the Implementation Completion and Results Report (ICR) crowned the Fund's performance with the "Highly Satisfactory" rating from the World Bank. This rating is the highest classification in the evaluation framework. The project is seen as a mature model of smart intervention in local and regional venture capital markets, as well as an evaluation of management efficiency, governance, and resource management that merits replication of the ISSF's success in other countries, according to the World Bank report.
Speaking at the roundtable held under the theme "From Implementation to Impact," Al-Muhtaseb stated that the World Bank's assessment reflects the efficiency of the Jordanian model in maximizing the impact of resources and building an integrated investment ecosystem, enabling the attraction of private investments. The Fund played a pivotal role in structuring the venture capital market, stimulating the economic cycle, and strengthening the competitiveness of the national economy.
Al-Muhtaseb clarified that the report concluded the project merited a "Highly Satisfactory" rating not merely because it achieved its objectives but because it exceeded most of them. The World Bank called for the experience and its capacity to generate sustainable market impact to be extended to other countries globally. He noted that the Fund succeeded in surpassing most of its targets, having mobilized $108.97 million in private capital for investment in 160 Jordanian startup transactions.
On the economic impact and employment front, Al-Muhtaseb reported that ISSF succeeded over the past years in creating 2,600 direct jobs and an estimated 5,500 to 10,000 indirect jobs across Jordan. These opportunities were distributed with 56% going to youth and 37% to females.
The ISSF project was launched in 2018 with a total value of $98 million: $50 million from the World Bank through a financing agreement with the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation and a direct investment of $48 million from the Central Bank of Jordan. The Fund's central objective was to bridge the structural gap in financing for innovative small and medium enterprises at the founding and early-growth stages.
The project was launched against a challenging economic backdrop: Jordan was contending with high unemployment, a weak private sector, and significant exposure to regional disruptions. At the same time, the entrepreneurship environment carried the seeds of genuine growth, yet the absence of appropriate financing instruments was impeding the conversion of ideas into scalable ventures.
Al-Muhtaseb explained that a reading of the report reveals several elements that made the difference in ISSF's experience. The first is professional governance: the Fund was established as an independent, privately governed joint-stock company operating in accordance with international best practices for investment fund management and employing professional standards in investment selection and structuring, partner management, risk management, and adherence to World Bank compliance and internal audit criteria.
Al-Muhtaseb added that the Fund's work centered on its role as a catalytic investor, attracting private investment without displacing or competing with it in the market. This extended to supporting the entrepreneurship ecosystem beyond investment alone: in its first phase, the Fund allocated USD 4.6 million to business development services, investment readiness, and incubator and accelerator programs. It also launched the Startups Platform in partnership with the Information Technology Association of Jordan (Intaj) and the Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship.
He added that one of the Fund's key success factors, as identified by the World Bank, was its openness to regional and international capital and its development of a high-impact, high-expertise fund portfolio. Through investment agreements and structured transactions, ISSF attracted funds that had not previously operated in Jordan to invest in Jordanian companies. The result was a multiplication of the Fund's invested capital by 2.5 times through the venture capital fund portfolio in Jordanian companies, a disciplined investment policy that proved a powerful draw for funds that would not otherwise have entered the Jordanian market.
In detailing the evaluation results, Al-Muhtaseb stated that ISSF succeeded over the past years in supporting some 160 Jordanian startups-135 through investment funds and 25 directly-and in attracting 22 investment funds to the Jordanian market. The Fund mobilized approximately $108.9 million in private investments, with a leverage ratio of 2x to 3x for every dollar invested by ISSF, within a total investment round ecosystem that reached approximately $338 million through participating funds spanning local, Arab, and international venture capital.
He noted that the proportion of women-led startups stood at 26%, affirming the Fund's role in supporting women's entrepreneurship and advancing economic empowerment.
Al-Muhtaseb also pointed to the report's finding that financing demand remains high, with projections estimating a funding gap of between $234 million and $885 million for the period 2025-2030. This represents a financing gap but equally signals a genuine market growth opportunity, one that positions the Jordanian experience as a replicable model for other countries facing similar challenges, giving it a significance that extends well beyond the local to the regional level.
Al-Muhtaseb emphasized the importance of the partnership with the World Bank, which the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation played a key role in enabling through the financing agreement, and of drawing on its international expertise in developing venture capital markets, supporting entrepreneurship and innovation, and implementing the governance, compliance, and risk management framework that the Fund has adhered to since its inception. This was further reinforced by the Fund team's work over the past years in building a balanced, open, and integrated economic model aligned with regional and global capital markets, the primary enabler of an entrepreneurship-supportive environment in any successful economy.
In closing, Al-Muhtaseb highlighted that the close partnership with the World Bank, as well as the Central Bank of Jordan's presence as a direct supporter and investor in the Fund, had a positive impact on strengthening the Fund's governance and efficiency, which was reflected in its performance and outcomes.