SAB Invest Partners with Stride Ventures to enrich VC ecosystem in Saudi Arabia

SAB Invest announced a partnership with Stride Ventures, a growth debt and private credit platform. The partnership aims to strengthen Saudi Arabia’s venture capital (VC) ecosystem by bringing international expertise and firms into the local market.

The move marks SAB Invest’s expansion into startup-focused investments and private credit for small and medium enterprises. It also enables Stride Ventures to collaborate with one of the Kingdom’s largest institutional investors in this sector, helping to boost capital and expertise inflows into the Saudi market. SAB Invest manages assets over SAR 36 billion as at the end of the second quarter of 2025.

In a statement, SAB Invest said the partnership focuses on leveraging its existing investment platforms to enhance access to startups and SMEs in the Kingdom and the GCC. This will be achieved through the use of non-dilutive growth financing instruments.

The alliance focuses on serving high-growth, innovative businesses in the Middle East by leveraging national programs that support innovation and SME financing. It will offer Shariah-compliant funding solutions across sectors including fintech, B2B SaaS, health tech, logistics, and consumer brands—enabling founders to scale their businesses without diluting ownership.

Ali Almansour, Managing Director & CEO at SAB Invest, said: “This strategic partnership with Stride Ventures is a step in realizing our commitment to Saudi Vision 2030’s core pillars of economic diversification and financial sector development. In addition to deploying capital, we are actively expanding the investable universe for our clients and localizing global financial expertise. We aim to deliver diversified returns to our investors through a dynamic private credit asset class, and to strategically support the next generation of Saudi and GCC champions. This platform directly fuels startups expansion, cementing Saudi Arabia’s leadership as the region’s hub for innovative, best-in-class financial solutions.”

For his part, Ishpreet Singh Gandhi, Founder and Managing Partner of Stride Ventures, further added: "Our collaboration with SAB Invest reflects Stride’s growing commitment to the GCC - a region that’s rapidly emerging as a powerhouse for venture creation. SAB Invest brings a strong pedigree of institutional depth and local insight, making them an ideal partner to help shape a new era of entrepreneurial transformation across the region. Stride is targeting a deployment of $500 million over the next 3 to 5 years. Through our globally benchmarked bespoke credit solutions, we aim to empower founders to scale responsibly while enabling institutional partners and global investors to participate in the region’s growth story.”

The announcement came after SAB Invest has launched in July SAB Invest Multi-Strategy Private Investment Fund I, a unique product designed to deliver high recurring income for investors through a diversified portfolio of private credit opportunities across Saudi Arabia, the GCC, and the MENA region.