Qatar Investment Authority has committed nearly half of its $1 billion Fund of Funds program to draw six venture capital firms to establish their regional headquarters in the country, a top official in the sovereign wealth fund told Semafor.

The initiative was launched following a three-year government study aimed at addressing a funding gap for startups looking to scale in the gas-rich country. “There is sufficient capital today in Qatar for early stage, pre-seed, and even seed rounds, but it’s at Series A to Series B, C, that’s where there’s a funding gap,” Mohsin Pirzada, QIA’s head of funds investment, said in an interview at Web Summit Qatar.

QIA, which manages more than $500 billion, is willing to forgo some of the financial returns it would typically seek from foreign venture capital investments to help create jobs, develop future technologies, and strengthen key sectors such as renewables, artificial intelligence, and food security, Pirzada said. “This is not just a case of throwing capital at the problem. It’s about engaging with both public and private stakeholders to kickstart this ecosystem.”

The program has received over 120 applications so far, with six firms committing to setting up in Doha. QIA is in the advanced stages of evaluating eight more proposals, Pirzada said.