RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA – Saudi Venture Capital (SVC) announced its investment of US$30 million in Bedaya Fund II, which is managed by Shorooq Partners.
The fund will mainly back early-stage startups with a focus on several sectors.
The subscription agreement was signed by Dr. Nabeel Koshak, CEO and Board Member at SVC, and Mahmoud Adi, Founding Partner at Shorooq Partners.
The signing ceremony was attended by Yousef Al-Benyan, Chairman of the SME Bank and Abdulrahman Mansour, acting CEO of the SME Bank.
Dr. Koshak said, “The investment in Bedaya Fund II by Shorooq Partners is part of SVC’s Investment in Funds Program to support the growth of the VC ecosystem in Saudi Arabia for all stages and to fill financing gaps for early stages.”
He said, “SVC’s expansion in investing in early-stage funds comes as a result of the recent support from the SME Bank to increase the investment capital of SVC, leading to a total investment capital of $1.6 billion.”
Mahmoud Adi said, “We are privileged to have SVC as a strategic investor to Bedaya Fund II, again after our partnership in Bedaya Fund I. This commitment highlights the increasing confidence in Saudi Arabia’s thriving startup ecosystem.”
He said, “With our persistent focus in Saudi Arabia and leadership position across the Middle East, Bedaya Fund II is well-positioned to support the growth and innovation of early-stage startups.”
He added, “We look forward to collaborating with SVC and contributing to the development of the tech and VC ecosystem in Saudi Arabia.”
The signing ceremony was also attended by Nora Alsarhan, Chief Investment Officer and Haifa Bahaian, Chief Legal Officer at SVC; as well as Shane Shin, Founding Partner at Shorooq Partners.
SVC is a government investment company established in 2018 and is a subsidiary of the SME Bank, one of the development banks affiliated to the National Development Fund.
SVC aims to stimulate and sustain financing for startups and SMEs from pre-seed to pre-IPO by investing $1.6 billion through investment in funds and co-investment in startups.
SVC invested in 38 funds that have put in money in 674 companies through 1,257 deals.