Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — A total of $13.4 billion in investments were announced during the third edition of the International Tech Conference LEAP, the biggest global tech event in terms of turnout, which has concluded in Riyadh on Thursday.
LEAP conference organized by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming and Drones, and Tahaluf Company, has achieved many new records at the sector level since its launch in 2022, with the participation of 1,800 international and local entities.
In the closing speech of the LEAP24 Conference in its third edition, Faisal Al-Khamisi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming and Drones, cited the support and empowerment that the conference enjoys from the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, saying that the conference seeks year after year to keep pace with the Saudi Vision 2030.
Al-Khamisi added, “We were thinking of a conference that would change the calendar of the technological world forever, simply because we are in Riyadh, the capital of achieving “the impossible”, and in light of Saudi Vision 2030 led by HRH the Crown Prince.”
He added, “We received 50,000 guests from outside the Kingdom this year. Officially, LEAP24 has become the most attended technological conference in the world, with 215,000 visitors attending, which had a clear impact in increasing the occupancy rate of hotels in Riyadh to 99 percent.”
Tahaluf CEO Michel Champion pointed out that attendance at LEAP24 conference this year increased to 25 percent, he also noted that the conference area is equivalent to 37 football fields, and the number of investors has increased by 60 percent compared to last year.
“LEAP24” played a prominent role, as it became the largest technological movement in three years, from 6 billion dollars to 12 billion dollars announced by binding agreements from CEOs, the greatest technological movement in venture capital and entrepreneurs with a 52 percent share of the region and 40 percent of the market, and a headquarters for stimulating foreign direct investments in a way that supports economic growth and the rapidly developing digital system in the Kingdom,” he said.
One of the most prominent announcements this year was that Amazon Web Services invested huge amounts of $5.3 billion to establish a high-capacity cloud zone in the Kingdom, which enhances the technological capabilities in the region. IBM announced an investment of $250 million to establish the first center. Global software development in the Kingdom, which contributes to enhancing technology and innovation skills.
ServiceNow also joined these pioneering steps by announcing an investment worth $500 million to launch its first data hub in the region, which constitutes a major addition to the digital infrastructure in the Kingdom.
Among the most notable projects are: Announcement of the National Development Fund in cooperation with the Social Development Bank, the launch of two venture investment funds in the gaming and e-sports sector, with a total value of 450 million riyals ($120 million) between the Social Development Bank and the two companies, Mirak Financial and Impact Financial (Impact46), and the National Information Technology Development Program (NTDP) launched five initiatives supporting digital entrepreneurship.
In addition to 7 announcements to launch investment funds and financing rounds for technology startups worth more than $888 million, and in the field of private investments, Oasis announced the launch of its second fund, “The Second Fund,” with a total of $100 million to empower company founders in their initial stages of growth in the Middle East.
While Blog & Play announced the launch of its first fund in the region to invest in emerging companies of technology in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Middle East and North Africa region, with a value of $50 million.