Qatar/United Kingdom • Qatar sovereign fund summons corporate spooks for briefing on collapsed tech group

Qatar sovereign fund summons corporate spooks for briefing on collapsed tech group

The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) has convened outside corporate intelligence specialists for a private briefing following the collapse of Builder.ai, the app-building start-up that counted the sovereign fund among its high-profile backers. QIA — which made a major investment in Builder.ai in 2023 that helped elevate the company to unicorn status in the UK — has commissioned external advisers to “find out what went wrong” after the firm filed for bankruptcy last year.

“Senior figures close to the QIA are said to be investigating,” the QIA’s move reflects escalating concern inside Doha over reputational exposure from the investment and the events that preceded Builder.ai’s failure.

Builder.ai, founded by Sachin Duggal, attracted substantial capital from a range of global investors, including QIA and SoftBank. The company’s collapse in June 2025 prompted scrutiny not only of its commercial model and governance but also of a controversial intelligence-style response in 2024, when the firm hired private investigators and cyber specialists to probe leaks and media briefings.

• Founder: Sachin Duggal, pictured publicly in September 2024 at an industry event in Munich.
• Backers: Qatar Investment Authority, SoftBank and other prominent investors.
• Key developments: QIA commissioned outside specialists post-collapse; Builder.ai had hired private operatives in 2024 to trace media sources.

Internal and external inquiries into Builder.ai’s demise have revealed a series of aggressive information‑gathering efforts. In 2024 the company “commissioned a team of outside advisers to determine who was briefing reporters about its business.” Those efforts reportedly included hiring cyber specialists to trace the email histories of journalists. As part of that campaign, operatives targeted Financial Times reporters and tried to infiltrate the FT newsroom, while cyber specialists sought to trace the email history of at least two Wall Street Journal staff.

Those actions became a secondary scandal in the wake of Builder.ai’s financial collapse, compounding questions about governance and oversight. A separate probe launched by Doha into the collapse — described as a response to QIA’s reputational exposure — has been reported alongside the sovereign fund’s decision to summon intelligence and corporate security experts for a briefing.

Names linked in coverage of the episode include Andres Elizondo, Daniyal Khan, Manpreet Ratia and Mansoor bin Ebrahim al-Mahmoud, reflecting the broad mix of corporate, advisory and intelligence figures drawn into post-mortem examinations of Builder.ai’s rise and fall. The company’s reliance on external operatives, including reports of ex‑Mossad agents being deployed to monitor journalists, drew particular attention and criticism.

Outlook: QIA’s commissioning of independent specialists signals an appetite for a thorough, possibly forensic review of both the investment decision made in 2023 and the subsequent events that led to reputational damage. Investors, advisers and policymakers in the UK tech sector will be watching the findings closely: any formal conclusions could influence how sovereign wealth funds approach direct investments in high‑risk, late‑stage startups and how portfolio companies handle media scrutiny and internal leak investigations going forward.