Nearly thirty years
of turning ideas into businesses.
Performous is the Dubai based venture vehicle of entrepreneur Marcus Cent. We create, operate and invest in businesses, combining nearly three decades of building companies with software developed using AI.
Marcus Cent
Marcus started his first business in Glasgow in 1997, building websites during the first wave of the commercial internet. Since then he has founded, cofounded and invested in businesses across web services, affiliate marketing, advertising technology, restaurant software, travel and more.
He moved to Dubai in 2008. Performous is the vehicle he uses to create, operate and invest in businesses, usually hands on, often as a founder and sometimes as an investor alongside the people who run them day to day.
The strengths have stayed the same throughout: spotting a commercial opportunity, shaping it into a business, building the brand and marketing, and finding new ways to earn revenue and run operations more efficiently.
- 1997Founds Marcat, a Glasgow web agency, and On the Spot, a domain and hosting business that still trades today.
- 2000sBuilds iBooking, then an affiliate and search advertising business that earns more than $1.5m from Google AdSense in 18 months.
- 2006Cofounds ResDiary, restaurant reservation software later acquired by AccorHotels in 2018.
- 2008Moves to Dubai with DistinctMEDIA, which becomes part of Clicksco Group, an advertising technology business he cofounded, with more than 200 people in nine countries by 2016.
- 2016The first Performous website: a vehicle for operating businesses and backing early stage founders.
- 2025AI coding tools change what one experienced operator can build. A new wave of ventures follows.
- TodayNine current ventures across travel, automotive, financial services, property and digital services.
The software no longer has to wait
For most of the last thirty years, the slowest and most expensive part of a new venture was the software. A bespoke system meant hiring a team, writing a specification and waiting months.
AI coding tools have changed that. The core of the Powerworks Garage CRM was working within days. The On the Spot platform was built in about a week. The Garage Guys design studio turns a photo of a garage into a design concept.
AI is a tool, not the point. What matters is that thirty years of commercial judgement can now be turned into working businesses far faster than before.
Four principles behind the work
The business comes first
Software is only worth building when it makes money, saves time or removes cost. Every system starts with how the business actually operates.
Our own capital, our own time
We invest as founders and owners, not as a fund, and we stay involved in the work.
Build it, then keep improving it
AI lets us ship a working first version in days, then refine it every week alongside the people who use it.
Honest about where things stand
Some ventures are trading, some have just launched and some are prototypes. Every case study says which.
Based in Dubai, between Asia and Europe
Dubai gives ready access to capital, talent and markets in both directions. Our ventures operate in the UAE, the United Kingdom and internationally online.
Have an idea, or a business that could run better?
We're always glad to talk about new ventures, investment ideas, technology, or how an existing business could operate more efficiently.