Saudi Venture Capital to invest SAR 1.5 bln in six VC funds

Saudi Venture Capital Co. (SVC) has signed letters of commitment with six VC funds namely the Saudi Technology Ventures (STV), Raed Ventures, Derayah Capital, Impact46, Merak Capital and Gobi 8point Capital.

The move comes as part of the venture capital initiative, said Saleh Al Rasheed, Chairman of Saudi VC and governor of General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises (Monsha’at).

The initiative aims at boosting and supporting venture capital and the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Saudi Arabia, as well as filling the sector’s funding gap in order to ensure higher success rates among startup companies, he said at the Financial Sector Conference (FSC) in Riyadh.

SVC has invested more than SAR 0.5 billion in the funds, with a total investment size of SAR 1.5 billion, CEO Nabeel Koshak said.

According to data compiled by Argaam, Monsha’at launched in October 2018 a venture capital initiative worth SAR 2.8 billion, as part of its private sector stimulus program, and in-line with Vision 2030 aiming to increase SMEs contribution in the gross domestic product (GDP) to 35 percent from 20 percent.