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Shibumi International
Shibumi International is a venture capital firm founded in 2018 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It invests in early-stage startups in the construction,...
Shibumi International
Shibumi International is a venture capital firm founded in 2018 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It invests in early-stage startups in the construction, facilities management, and building inspection sectors. The firm has made 10 investments, including a Series A investment in LightYX on September 02, 2025.
General information
Firm type
Single Family Office
Year founded
2018
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
Middle East
Country
United Arab Emirates
City
Dubai
Corporate office
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Principals
Nicholas Billotti
Managing Partner
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Shibumi International?
Nicholas Billotti, as Managing Partner, leads investment decisions. His background spans both the operational side of Gülermak Heavy Industries and the venture diligence process, giving him a practitioner's lens on which technologies will gain contractor adoption.
How does Shibumi source its deals?
Shibumi leverages Gülermak's engineering networks across Europe and the Middle East, the BuiltWorlds Venture Forum for curated ConTech referrals, and a partnership with Impulse Partners on the CivicLabs initiative in Israel. Co-investors like NOVA by Saint-Gobain and Vinci Construction also surface deals through their corporate venture pipelines.
What investment stages does Shibumi target?
Shibumi concentrates on early-stage startups, typically Seed through Series A, where corporate strategics can meaningfully accelerate product validation. The firm favors companies with a working prototype that can be deployed on active Gülermak jobsites for real-world stress testing.
Does Shibumi operate as a venture capital fund or a single-family office?
Shibumi International is structured as a single-family office and asset manager for the principals behind Gülermak Heavy Industries. It deploys proprietary balance-sheet capital rather than third-party LP commitments, which removes standard fund-life constraints from its investment horizon.
Which sectors does Shibumi explicitly target?
Shibumi invests primarily in construction technology, industrial automation, and advanced manufacturing. Specific sub-verticals include jobsite robotics, 3D concrete printing, digital twin software, and AI-driven project controls. The firm avoids generalist software and consumer internet.
Who are Shibumi's most frequent co-investors?
Confirmed co-investors include NOVA by Saint-Gobain (building materials), Vinci Construction (global infrastructure), and Thornton Tomasetti through its Ttwiin Investment Partners affiliate (engineering design). These relationships allow portfolio companies to access distribution channels across multiple continents.
Where does the underlying capital come from?
The capital originates from the owners of Gülermak Heavy Industries Construction and Contracting, a Turkish firm that has delivered major metro, tunnel, and bridge projects. The Billotti family uses Shibumi to recycle industrial profits into the technologies shaping Gülermak's own future project delivery.
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