A new $50 million venture fund looks beyond Israel’s startup scene to the wider Middle East.

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In this age of ISIS and Iran’s nuclear program, it’s nice to see good news coming out of the Middle East.

True to his father Shimon Peres’ vision of a “New Middle East,” venture capitalist Chemi Peres has set up a private equity fund called Amelia whose goal is to create economic opportunities throughout the Middle East as well as promote cooperation between Israel and other countries.

The fund has been operating under the radar for several months and only recently came to the attention of Israel’s TheMarker newspaper.

The fund’s markets include Israel and the Palestinian Authority, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey and the Arabian Gulf among others. Israel does not officially have trade relations with most other Middle Eastern countries, although significant trade does occur quietly.

Peace and profits

According to Amelia’s web site, “by creating and supporting economic collaboration in the Middle East, entrepreneurs will transcend borders and build relations in a region undergoing transition.”

Peres started the fund together with Assaf Shariv (formerly media adviser to prime ministers Ehud Olmert and the late Ariel Sharon) and Jonathan Kolber (a general partner in the Viola fund) under the auspices of the Peres Center for Peace.

So far they have raised $15 million and say they plan to raise $50 million by the end of 2015.

Amelia has already made two investments. It invested several hundred thousand dollars in Demeter, an Israeli agricultural, energy and water consulting firm.

The fund has also invested in Takwin Labs, a Haifa-based technology incubator for Israeli Arabs.

Any profit that the Amelia fund makes from exits or otherwise will be donated to the Peres Center for Peace.

“Our fund invests in Middle Eastern companies as a business strategy and also in companies that are Middle East focused,” Assaf Shariv told TheMarker.