MENA's #1 venture market — Saudi startups, Saudi capital

Before

A decade ago, a Saudi founder pitching for venture capital usually had to fly to Dubai, sometimes London. Saudi-based VC firms were rare, sovereign capital was directed at large infrastructure, and an early-stage tech ecosystem barely existed.

Initiative

A deliberate public-private capital stack: PIF and Sanabil at the top of the pyramid as anchor LPs; the Saudi Venture Capital Company (SVC) deploying as a fund-of-funds; NTDP offering equity-free grants; Wa'ed Ventures (Aramco), Impact46, STV, Raed and others operating across stages; the Nomu Parallel Market lowering the bar for early exits; and the Regional HQ Program drawing global GPs to Riyadh.

Outcome

2025: $1.72B raised across 257 deals — a 145% YoY jump in funding and a 45% rise in deal count. Saudi Arabia took the #1 deal-count position in MENA for the first time and held the #1 funding position for the third consecutive year. Saudi startups captured over half of all MENA VC value. Mega-rounds included Ninja ($250M), HALA ($157M), Tabby (Series E), and iMENA ($135M).

For citizens

A Saudi software engineer building a fintech, a Saudi logistics founder building a delivery network, a Saudi marketplace founder — they no longer have to leave the Kingdom to raise capital, build a team, or scale. The startup is now a credible Saudi career path.