Jordan's ISSF partners with STV to bring the Google-backed AI Fund to Jordanian founders

The Innovative Startups and SMEs Fund (ISSF) has announced a partnership with Saudi venture firm STV that brings STV’s Google‑backed AI Fund into Jordan, giving Jordanian AI founders access to one of the region’s largest venture investors. Financial terms of the tie‑up were not disclosed. STV launched the $100 million AI Fund in May 2025 with backing from Google; the vehicle—branded STV’s Emerging Tech & AI Fund—has since added commitments from Saudi and regional institutions and has deployed into Sawt, Clarity, Signit and Stream.

"It gives Jordanian founders a direct route into one of the fastest‑moving markets in the world while letting opportunity flow back the other way," ISSF said in framing the partnership as a bridge between Jordan's technical talent and Saudi Arabia's scale and capital.

Context and fund details

STV’s Emerging Tech & AI Fund was created to address a stark funding gap: STV research at the fund’s launch found just 1.5% of MENA venture funding went to AI startups in 2024, compared with 38% in the US and 13% in India. Since May 2025 the fund has been steadily adding limited partners, including SAB and a mix of semi‑sovereign entities, endowments and institutional investors across the region. To date the vehicle has backed four AI‑native startups—Sawt, Clarity, Signit and Stream—and participated in Signit’s $15 million Series A in May.

The ISSF itself was created in 2018 with an initial capitalisation of $50 million from the World Bank and $48 million from the Central Bank of Jordan. It completed its first investment cycle in 2025 and has opened a second phase characterised by a run of fund partnerships. Last month ISSF committed $7 million to Endeavor Catalyst V—more than triple its earlier ticket into Catalyst III—part of a push to plug Jordanian startups into Endeavor’s global network.

What each partner brings

• ISSF: deep local technical talent, capital from its World Bank and Central Bank seed funding, and a mandate to extend Jordanian startups' access to regional and global networks.
• STV: a $100 million AI vehicle backed by Google, a portfolio that includes Tabby, Salla, Foodics and Calo, and more than $2 billion in assets under management.

For STV the agreement extends a fund whose remit was always regional beyond its Riyadh base, bringing it into Jordan—a market that has produced notable founders such as Amjad Masad, the Jordanian‑born creator of Replit and one of the country’s most prominent tech exits. The partnership gives Jordanian founders a direct line to STV’s dealflow, LP base and follow‑on capital in Saudi Arabia and beyond.

Outlook

With the Google‑backed vehicle now available to Jordanian founders through ISSF, local AI startups may find quicker access to regional scale and capital at a time when AI allocations in MENA remain small. ISSF’s recent $7 million commitment to Endeavor Catalyst V and this new collaboration with STV indicate the fund of funds is focused on building outbound routes for Jordanian companies into regional ecosystems. How many Jordanian teams secure allocations from STV’s Emerging Tech & AI Fund will depend on dealflow and competition for limited AI allocations—STV has already deployed into four companies and will likely remain selective as it expands its portfolio across the region.