Global investors’ interest in Saudi startups is accelerating

A record number of venture capitalists invested in Saudi startups in 2025, underscoring growing global interest in the Kingdom’s technology sector, industry leaders told Arab News. According to the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology’s 2025 annual report, venture capital reached SR6.4 billion ($1.7 billion) across 257 deals, while total technology investments amounted to SR21.7 billion, with international investors contributing SR7.6 billion. Saudi Arabia accounted for 56 percent of total venture capital investment in the region, and fintech alone made up 40 percent of deals in the first quarter of 2026.

“Today, annual VC deployment stands at $1.7 billion — a 59 percent average annual growth over the past seven years — with 10 unicorns.”

Nahim bin Moussa, investment manager at STV, framed the numbers as evidence of a maturing ecosystem that is attracting both local and international capital. He warned, however, that a funding shortfall persists beyond early-stage finance: “While we witness today abundant capital for early-stage startups, there is still a critical funding gap for growth and late-stage ones estimated at $16 billion until 2030.”

Bin Moussa highlighted the evolution of investment platforms within the Kingdom as funds diversify their strategies. He noted STV’s move into non-dilutive instruments and strategic partnerships: “As the ecosystem matured, and capitalizing on a strong performance with our first fund, we have evolved into a multi-strategy platform with a non-dilutive capital NICE Fund backed by NTDP in 2024, and an Emerging Tech Fund backed by Google in 2025 with a strong focus on AI applications like Sawt.”

• SR6.4 billion ($1.7 billion) in VC across 257 deals in 2025.
• Total technology investment: SR21.7 billion; international investors: SR7.6 billion.
• Saudi Arabia accounts for 56% of regional VC; fintech 40% of deals in Q1 2026.
• Estimated $16 billion funding gap for growth and late-stage startups through 2030.

Founders at active Saudi startups described the shift in investor appetite. Faisal Al-Maklas, co-founder and CEO of Torod, said: “Since the start of 2026, Saudi Arabia has witnessed a notable acceleration in investor interest in the startup sector, building on a cumulative growth trajectory seen in recent years.” He credited regulatory refinement and Vision 2030 for bolstering investor confidence: “Saudi Vision 2030 plays a central role in enhancing the Kingdom’s attractiveness to international investors. It has accelerated economic reforms, strengthened the regulatory environment, and supported innovation and entrepreneurship.”

Bin Moussa used payments firm Tabby to illustrate rising international participation: “While Tabby in its early stages mainly attracted demand from domestic investors, it has more recently attracted significantly more demand from blue-chip, large international private equity investors from the US and China: the past 3 rounds — Series D, Series E, and pre-IPO — saw a total international investment of over $300 million from PayPal, Wellington Management, Bluepool, HongShan Capital, Boyu Capital, and a few other undisclosed names.”

Mohammed Al‑Shaikh, co-founder of Netzero, which focuses on sustainability solutions, said international interest in his company remains limited but is expected to grow: “Currently, interest in our company is still primarily driven by local investors compared to international ones. However, we expect this to shift in the coming years, given the strength of our product and its potential to enable international players to enter the Saudi market.”

Looking ahead, industry leaders say progress will be measured not only by deal volumes but by the quality of exits and post-IPO performance. “As our ecosystem matures, its success will increasingly be measured by sizeable, high-quality exits,” Bin Moussa said. “When those exits materialize through IPOs, the benchmark moves further: the ecosystem will be judged not just by the listing itself, but by the post-IPO performance of those companies in public markets.”