AI investment fund plan approved in Iran with 1.2 trillion tomans in proposed capital

Iran’s Innovation and Prosperity Fund has approved a plan to establish an AI venture investment fund with proposed capital of 12 trillion rials, or 1.2 trillion tomans, an official said.

The planned stock-market fund would help technology companies commercialize AI solutions and expand their use across Iranian industries, Ehsan Chitsaz said. Chitsaz is a member of the Innovation and Prosperity Fund’s executive board and a deputy minister responsible for ICT policy and digital-economy development.

The announcement concerns approval by the Innovation and Prosperity Fund’s executive board of a plan to establish the new fund. It does not specify when the fund would begin operating.

The proposed capital is equivalent to about $4.5 million at the November 14 free-market selling rate, 269,500 tomans per dollar.

Three-year capital schedule

Under the plan, capital would be paid in over three years: 35% in the first year, 30% in the second and 35% in the third. The fund would have a seven-year lifespan and a three-year investment period.

The proposed founding investors are Setaregan Fund of Funds, Vista Investment Holding, Vista Media and the Innovation and Prosperity Fund. Each would hold 900,000 preferred units.

Mobile operator Irancell would invest through Vista using a tax credit, Chitsaz said.

From AI models to industry applications

Investment priorities would include specialized AI models, application programming interfaces (APIs), and AI-based software and services.

Target industries include e-commerce, banking services, content production and entertainment, robotics and intelligent automation, energy and power plants, and health care.

Chitsaz said the aim was to use the capital market to finance technology and knowledge-based companies. This would help them turn AI solutions into products ready for sale and broaden their industrial applications.