Ghada Ismail

For years, compliance sat quietly in the background of business operations. It was something companies had to deal with to satisfy regulators, avoid fines, and keep the paperwork in order. Few founders saw it as a competitive advantage, and even fewer viewed it as a startup opportunity.

Today, that is changing.

As Saudi Arabia's digital economy expands, compliance is emerging as a business category in its own right. A growing number of startups are building software designed to help businesses meet regulatory requirements more efficiently, turning what was once a back-office function into a scalable technology product.

The timing is no coincidence. As fintech, insurtech, digital assets, e-commerce, and AI-powered businesses continue to grow across the Kingdom, regulators are paying closer attention to issues such as anti-money laundering (AML), customer verification, fraud prevention, and data protection.

For businesses, these obligations can quickly become expensive and complex. For a new generation of startups, they represent a market opportunity.

Their solution is straightforward: automate compliance through software. Instead of relying heavily on manual reviews, spreadsheets, and large compliance teams, companies can use technology to verify customers, monitor transactions, screen for risks, and generate reports in real time.

In the process, compliance is evolving from a regulatory requirement into a product category of its own.

Why Compliance Is Becoming Big Business

Saudi Arabia's startup ecosystem has grown rapidly over the past decade, supported by digital transformation initiatives, rising investment activity, and an increasingly tech-savvy population. But growth brings responsibility, and regulators are keeping pace with the speed of innovation.

Companies operating in financial services, insurance, payments, e-commerce, and other digital sectors now face stricter expectations around customer onboarding, risk management, transaction monitoring, and data governance.

For many startups, compliance becomes significantly more challenging as they scale. A company serving a few hundred users can often manage verification processes manually. A business onboarding hundreds of thousands of customers cannot.

The larger the customer base, the greater the compliance burden. Manual checks become slower, more expensive, and harder to maintain. At the same time, businesses face growing pressure to strengthen AML controls, Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures, sanctions screening, fraud detection, and data protection practices.

Failing to meet these requirements can lead to financial penalties, reputational damage, and restrictions on business activities.

As a result, many companies are looking for technology rather than manpower to solve the problem.

Instead of building large compliance departments from scratch or relying entirely on consultants, businesses increasingly want software that can automate verification, monitoring, screening, and reporting. That demand is creating space for a new generation of startups focused on simplifying compliance.

In many ways, regulation itself is helping create an entirely new sector within Saudi Arabia's technology ecosystem.

Turning Compliance Into a Product

The idea behind Compliance-as-a-Product is simple: make compliance accessible through software.

Traditionally, businesses relied on legal advisors, consultants, and internal compliance teams to manage regulatory obligations. While these functions remain important, they often require significant resources and manual effort.

RegTech companies are approaching the challenge differently.

Rather than simply advising companies on how to comply, they build technology that performs much of the work automatically. Businesses can subscribe to a platform, integrate it into their systems, and immediately gain access to compliance tools that would otherwise require extensive internal investment.

A fintech company, for example, can connect a compliance platform directly to its onboarding process. Instead of employees manually reviewing identity documents, checking sanctions lists, and assessing risk profiles, the software can perform these tasks in seconds.

The same approach can be applied to transaction monitoring, fraud detection, politically exposed person (PEP) screening, adverse media checks, and suspicious activity reporting.

For startups and mid-sized businesses, the appeal is obvious. They gain access to sophisticated compliance capabilities without having to build large teams dedicated solely to regulatory oversight.

Compliance, in effect, becomes something businesses can plug into their operations and scale alongside their growth.

Meet Saudi Arabia's Emerging RegTech Players

Among the most prominent is Mozn, one of the Kingdom's leading enterprise AI companies. Through its FOCAL platform, the company provides financial institutions with tools for AML compliance, fraud prevention, customer verification, transaction monitoring, and risk intelligence. The platform has been adopted by banks and fintech firms across the region, reflecting growing demand for locally developed compliance solutions that address the needs of highly regulated industries.

Another emerging player is Tathabbat, which focuses on identity verification, KYC, and AML solutions tailored to Saudi regulatory requirements. By concentrating on local market needs, the company aims to help businesses streamline compliance while reducing friction during customer onboarding.

Dal is also gaining attention through its Ayn platform, which offers AML screening, sanctions monitoring, and politically exposed person screening services. As financial institutions seek to balance strong risk controls with smooth customer experiences, these capabilities are becoming increasingly important.

Meanwhile, Esnad Tech's Sanad360 platform represents one of the Kingdom's earlier moves into the RegTech space. The platform provides tools for KYC verification, due diligence, AML compliance, and broader compliance workflow management. Its goal is to help organizations centralize processes that have traditionally been scattered across multiple departments.

Together, these companies highlight a broader shift taking place within Saudi Arabia's startup ecosystem. Rather than focusing solely on consumer apps or traditional software categories, entrepreneurs are tackling highly specialized challenges that sit at the intersection of technology and regulation.

Why Investors and Enterprises Are Paying Attention

Compliance technology offers several characteristics that make it particularly attractive as a business.

One of its biggest strengths is customer retention. Unlike many software products that can be swapped out relatively easily, compliance platforms often become deeply embedded within a company's operations. Once integrated into onboarding systems, transaction monitoring frameworks, and risk management processes, switching providers can be costly and disruptive.

That creates long-term customer relationships and recurring revenue opportunities.

Demand is also expanding well beyond traditional banking.

While banks remain major buyers of compliance solutions, fintech startups, insurers, investment firms, payment providers, and large enterprises are increasingly investing in compliance technology. As more services move online, businesses need automated tools that can verify customers, detect risks, and satisfy regulators without slowing growth.

The opportunity extends beyond Saudi Arabia as well.

Many GCC countries are introducing similar rules around AML, digital identity, open finance, and data protection. Because the regulatory direction is broadly aligned across the region, Saudi startups can often adapt their products for neighboring markets without rebuilding them from the ground up.

That creates a clear path for regional expansion.

Could Compliance Become the Next Infrastructure Layer?

Looking ahead, compliance technology may become one of the foundational layers of Saudi Arabia's digital economy.

Artificial intelligence is expected to play an increasingly important role in this evolution. Future compliance platforms are likely to move beyond rule-based screening and become far more predictive. AI can help identify unusual behavior, uncover fraud patterns, assess risk levels, and even assist with investigations before problems escalate.

At the same time, new regulations are creating new opportunities.

Emerging frameworks around AI governance, digital identity, open finance, cybersecurity, and data protection will introduce additional compliance obligations for businesses. Every new rule creates demand for tools that can simplify implementation and reduce operational complexity.

Saudi Arabia's digital transformation agenda, combined with the continued growth of its financial services sector, provides fertile ground for this type of innovation.

Just as fintech infrastructure companies emerged to simplify payments, banking integrations, and financial services, compliance infrastructure providers could become equally important to businesses operating in regulated industries.

In many ways, these startups are selling something more valuable than software.

They are selling trust.

Their platforms help businesses prove who their customers are, identify risks before they become problems, detect suspicious activity, and demonstrate compliance with evolving regulations. In a digital-first economy, those capabilities are becoming increasingly valuable.

Wrapping Things Up…

Compliance is no longer just a regulatory obligation hidden in the back office.

In Saudi Arabia, it is becoming a technology category with its own business models, growth opportunities, and startup success stories.

Driven by digital transformation, tighter regulations, and growing demand for automation, a new generation of companies is turning compliance into scalable software products. Players such as Mozn, Tathabbat, Dal, and EsnadTech are showing how technology can simplify complex regulatory processes while creating sustainable businesses in the process.

As the Kingdom's digital economy continues to mature, Compliance-as-a-Product could emerge as one of the most important segments of the broader technology landscape.

Noha Gad

Businesses constantly face a critical challenge: when they will see the right return on the capital they have allocated to new projects, investments, and growth initiatives. Companies can report record revenues and rising profits; however, they still fail to create real value for their shareholders. The missing piece often lies not in how much money a business makes, but in how efficiently it uses the capital entrusted to it. This is where Return on Invested Capital (ROIC) comes in.

ROIC is a powerful financial metric that measures the percentage return a company generates from all the capital invested in it, both from shareholders and debt holders. It strips away the noise of financing structures and accounting tricks to reveal the true profitability and operational efficiency of a business. 

A good understanding of ROIC provides business owners evaluating new projects, investors comparing companies, or finance professionals optimizing resource allocation, a clear lens into whether a company is creating value or simply burning capital. 

What does ROIC tell you?

ROIC indicates how efficiently a company puts the capital under its control toward profitable investments or projects. The ROIC ratio gives a sense of how well a company is using the money it has raised to generate returns. Comparing a company’s return on invested capital with its weighted average cost of capital (WACC) reveals whether invested capital is being used effectively.

The ROIC formula is net operating profit after tax (NOPAT) divided by invested capital. Companies with a steady or improving return on capital are unlikely to put significant amounts of new capital to work. Investors and analysts might also use the return on new invested capital (RONIC) calculation to determine the value of deploying new or additional capital to a new or existing project.

This metric is particularly useful when examining companies in industries that depend on investing a large amount of capital. Like many metrics, it is most informative when used to compare similar companies operating in the same sector.

Importance of ROIC

ROIC is a critical indicator of a company’s ability to create real, sustainable value. Unlike metrics that focus only on revenue growth or net profit, ROIC reveals whether a business is generating returns that exceed the cost of the capital it uses. It stands out as one of the most important metrics for decision-makers as it:

• Measures true capital efficiency. ROIC shows how effectively a company converts invested capital into profits. A high ROIC means the business is using its money wisely.
• Reveals value creation against value destruction. The most powerful insight ROIC provides is whether a company is creating or destroying value. If the ROIC is higher than the company’s Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC), this means that the company is creating value, but if it is lower than the WACC, then the company is destroying value; even if it is profitable on paper, it is not earning enough to cover its cost of capital.
• Takes a more comprehensive view of investment analysis. While Return on Equity (ROE) only considers shareholder equity and Return on Assets (ROA) focuses on assets, ROIC takes a more comprehensive view by including all capital, debt, and equity alike. This makes ROIC a more accurate measure of operational performance, especially for companies with significant debt or complex financing structures.
• Provides clearer earnings quality assessment. ROIC helps investors distinguish between high-quality earnings and low-quality earnings. Companies with strong ROIC tend to have more sustainable, repeatable profit streams.

Additionally, ROIC assists business owners and executives in evaluating new projects, making acquisition decisions, optimizing resource allocation, and finding the best pricing strategies by understanding the return generated from capital-intensive operations.

In short, ROIC helps businesses and investors move beyond just looking at revenue or profit and instead see how capital is being used. A high ROIC above the cost of capital means real value is being created, while a low ROIC below that cost means value is being destroyed, no matter how good the financial statements look. By focusing on ROIC, companies can make smarter decisions about where to put their money, and investors can find businesses that truly deliver lasting returns. 

Kholoud Hussein 

Before long, fitness was viewed primarily as a lifestyle choice across much of the Middle East. Today, it has become a fast-growing economic sector attracting investment, driving entrepreneurship, and reshaping consumer spending habits. Across the GCC, rising health awareness, supportive government policies, and the expansion of modern fitness facilities have transformed wellness from a niche market into a mainstream industry. In Saudi Arabia particularly, Vision 2030 has accelerated this shift, helping create one of the region's fastest-growing fitness markets while encouraging greater participation across all demographics, especially women.

As the sector matures, attention is increasingly turning toward the technology infrastructure that powers gyms, personal trainers, and fitness operators. Beyond opening new fitness centers, the industry is entering a phase where operational efficiency, data analytics, artificial intelligence, and scalable digital platforms are becoming key drivers of growth and profitability. This evolution is creating significant opportunities for companies capable of bridging the gap between fitness services and technology.

Among the companies leading this transformation is Enhance, a Middle East-born fitness platform that has evolved from a regional service provider into a global technology player. Operating across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, and the United States, the company now supports more than 15,000 personal trainers and facilitates over half a million training sessions every month. Through its Enterprise SaaS and AI-powered platform, Enhance Tech, the company is helping gym operators improve trainer performance, increase profitability, and better manage one of the industry's most valuable yet historically underutilized revenue streams: personal training.

As Enhance expands its footprint beyond the GCC and deepens its presence in the United States, the company is positioning itself at the intersection of fitness, artificial intelligence, and enterprise software. Its journey reflects broader trends reshaping the global wellness economy, where technology is increasingly becoming the foundation for scalable growth and long-term value creation.

In this exclusive interview with Sharikat Mubasher, Tarek Mounir, Founder and CEO of Enhance, discusses the company's evolution from a Dubai-based startup into a global fitness technology platform, the growing demand for personal training across Saudi Arabia and the GCC, the role of AI in transforming gym operations, the company's expansion strategy in the US and beyond, and how Enhance aims to become the global operating standard for personal training in the years ahead.

Enhance has scaled rapidly across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, while also expanding into the United States. How would you describe the company's current operating model, and what has been the key driver behind this cross-market growth?

Enhance is the operating system for personal training (PT). We help large gym chains turn PT from an afterthought into a predictable, profitable revenue stream — which in the high-volume, low-price (HVLP) segment is something almost nobody has cracked.

 We started in Dubai in 2018 as a service business. Eight years later, we cover 700+ contracted gym locations globally — UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, and now the US — supporting 15,000 trainers and over 500,000 booked sessions a month. Revenue has compounded at 65% CAGR since 2019.

 The more important shift is the shape of the business. We went from a regional service layer into a SaaS platform that any multi-site gym operator can deploy. That super-sized our addressable market; from Gulf gym chains up into a $1.8 billion global PT management software category; with the US and UK alone worth $800 million. The GCC gave us the operational history and the proven unit economics. The US is where we're deploying them at scale.

With more than 15,000 personal trainers on the platform and over half a million monthly sessions booked, what does this level of activity reveal about demand trends in the fitness economy across the GCC?

The numbers reflect a structural shift in how GCC consumers approach health. A PT client in Dubai, in 2018, typically came in asking for weight loss before a wedding or a summer holiday. The same client today asks about strength, recovery, energy, and long-term healthspan. That vocabulary shift happened in under a decade.

 Saudi Arabia is the most significant data point. Vision 2030 opened the fitness category, and the pace of adoption — particularly among women — has been dramatic. We're seeing more first-time formal fitness participants in KSA right now than in any other market we operate in. Consumer demand there is outpacing the supply of qualified trainers, which tells you the ceiling is still far above where the market is today.

 Session volumes reflect PT’s transition from a premium add-on to a mainstream service. Over 500,000 booked sessions a month is not a niche conversation — it's a category.

Your Enterprise SaaS and AI-powered product, Enhance Tech, is gaining traction in the US market. What gap in the global gym industry are you addressing, and why do you believe this solution has not been built at scale before?

PT is a $42 billion global market, and most gym operators still lose money on it. The industry runs on whiteboards, spreadsheets and gut feel. Trainer churn sits around 70% a year. Fewer than 15% of free trial sessions convert into paying clients. Operators have almost no visibility into what is actually happening on the gym floor.

No one has solved this at scale because it requires two things that are genuinely hard to combine: deep operational experience running PT inside gyms, and the engineering capability to abstract that into software. Most software companies don't understand the gym floor. Most gym operators don't build software. We have spent eight years doing both, simultaneously.

The AI layer works because the dataset works first. We process over 500,000 PT sessions a month across 700+ gyms. Every session is a data point on what makes trainers successful, why members stay or leave, and where revenue leaks out. A new entrant would need almost a decade of operational history to rebuild that. That's not something you shortcut with capital.

The performance metrics you've shared — 20% more sessions per trainer, a 17% increase in operating margins, and over 40% improvement in trainer retention — are significant. From an investor's perspective, how do these metrics translate into long-term value creation for gym operators?

Each metric hits a different line on the P&L, so they compound in a meaningful way for operators and investors.

 The 20% increase in sessions per trainer is a revenue multiplier — the same headcount produces materially more output. The 17-percentage-point improvement in operating margin at mature sites makes PT much more of a profit engine for gyms. The retention number is the one investors tend to underweight the impact of: when trainer churn drops from the 70% industry norm to under 30%, operators are spared having to absorb constant rehiring and retraining costs, and clients stop churning with their trainer.

Put together, the model creates a gym that earns more from PT, spends less running it, and retains the people who deliver it. At mature sites we see PT revenue around $85,000 per club per month. That's the long-term value case — and it's why operators stay on the platform once they're on it.

Can you walk us through Enhance's funding journey to date? What type of investors have backed the company, and how are you positioning the business for future funding rounds or strategic partnerships?

We bootstrapped the early years deliberately. Taking outside capital before the unit economics were proven would have meant scaling the wrong thing faster. Once the model worked, we raised.

We've taken around $21 million to date. Our cap table includes Global Ventures — MENA's leading venture firm — alongside other institutional backers who understand the regional market and the global ambition. 

We are in conversations with investors who recognize now as particularly ideal timing, as we accelerate our US rollout, deepen the product, and move from a proven regional operator into the default PT infrastructure for large gym chains globally. 

The thesis is straightforward — PT is a $42 billion market with no system of record or operating standard. We're building it. The strategic partnerships we're pursuing in the US reflect the same logic: enterprise gym groups looking for an operator they can trust to run PT end-to-end, not just provide software.

Saudi Arabia is undergoing rapid transformation in its fitness and wellness sector under Vision 2030. How central is the Kingdom to your growth strategy, and what specific expansion plans do you have in this market?

Saudi Arabia is our highest-growth market and one of the most important in the world for this category. Vision 2030 did not just open a new segment — it catalysed a generational shift in how Saudi consumers relate to health and fitness. Current participation rates, particularly among women, would have been unimaginable a decade ago.

For Enhance, the KSA opportunity is both a consumer-side and enterprise-side story. For consumers, demand for qualified personal training is expanding faster than supply — the market constraint is the talent gap, not regulation or the willingness to pay. That creates a strong case for a platform that helps gym operators find, train, and retain good trainers at scale.

On the enterprise side, the large gym groups expanding aggressively across the Kingdom need infrastructure to run PT profitably — and the franchise model driving much of that expansion is exactly where our platform performs best. We're working with operators who are building for a ten-year horizon, and so are we.

Beyond the GCC and the US, which markets are you prioritising next, and what factors determine your market-entry strategy — regulation, consumer behaviour, or enterprise demand?

Enterprise demand drives the sequence, and then we assess the other factors. We follow large gym chains — if a group we already work with is expanding into a new market, that's a faster path to traction than building from scratch against an unfamiliar operator landscape.

As for what's next: the UK is a natural priority. It's the largest gym market in Europe, has strong HVLP penetration, and there is a significant shared-language advantage in how we build and sell the product. Beyond that, Southeast Asia and markets like Australia are interesting over a 24–36 month horizon — high gym penetration, growing PT adoption, and early-stage software infrastructure in the gym sector.

Regulation matters less than it might initially appear. Personal training is not a heavily regulated category in most markets. Consumer behaviour matters more — specifically, whether PT has reached the inflection point from premium to mainstream in a given market. Our GCC experience tells us that once that shift starts, it moves quickly.

As you continue to scale both your consumer platform and enterprise SaaS offering, how do you see Enhance evolving over the next three to five years — particularly in terms of AI integration, product development, and global market positioning?

The three-to-five year vision is to be the system of record and operating standard for personal training globally — the platform gym operators default to, the way hotel groups default to property management software or restaurants default to reservation systems. That category doesn't exist yet. We're building it.

On AI specifically: the tools already live include at-risk client detection that flags members before they churn, and a trainer coaching layer benchmarking every trainer, so managers know exactly who to develop. An AI sales agent and a daily AI management brief follow later this year — with ranked morning instructions for each gym manager, rather than a dashboard requiring interpretation.

The advantage is not the models themselves. Every platform will have access to good models. The advantage is the eight years of operational history behind ours — over 500,000 sessions a month across 700+ gyms, compounding daily. That data set gets harder to replicate every quarter.

On global positioning: the US establishes us as a credible global operator, not just a GCC success story. That matters for enterprise deals, for the fundraising narrative, and for the category we're defining. The ambition, simply stated, is to be the company that built the global infrastructure for PT — and to have done it from the UAE.

Ghada Ismail

Not long ago, the relationship between large corporations and startups was relatively straightforward. Established companies invested in promising startups, partnered with them, or acquired them once they had proven their market value. Innovation largely happened outside the walls of major businesses.

Today, that dynamic is changing. Across Saudi Arabia, a growing number of conglomerates and family-owned business groups are taking a more active role in creating innovation by building startups themselves. Rather than waiting for entrepreneurs to identify opportunities, these companies are establishing dedicated teams tasked with spotting market gaps, developing new products, and launching entirely new ventures from within.

The shift reflects broader changes taking place across the Kingdom. As Vision 2030 drives economic diversification and digital transformation reshapes industries, Saudi companies are increasingly looking beyond their traditional business models. For many, the objective is no longer simply to adapt to change but to create the businesses that will drive future growth.

These internal startup units—often operating as venture studios, innovation hubs, or venture-building teams—are becoming an increasingly important part of how some of Saudi Arabia’s largest organizations approach innovation.

Why Conglomerates Are Looking Inward

For decades, diversification often meant expanding into new sectors through acquisitions, partnerships, or geographic growth. While these strategies remain important, they can be expensive, time-consuming, and dependent on opportunities that may not always exist.

At the same time, technological disruption is forcing companies to respond faster to changing markets. New business models can emerge rapidly, and startups have repeatedly demonstrated their ability to challenge established players with innovative products and services.

Many Saudi conglomerates have realized that waiting for the next disruptive company to appear may no longer be enough. Building ventures internally allows them to stay closer to emerging trends while creating businesses that align directly with long-term strategic priorities.

The Kingdom’s rapidly maturing startup ecosystem has also influenced this trend. Over the past decade, Saudi entrepreneurs have built successful companies across fintech, e-commerce, logistics, healthtech, and software. Their success has shown that innovative businesses can be created and scaled locally, encouraging larger corporations to adopt entrepreneurial thinking themselves.

What Is an Internal Startup Unit?

An internal startup unit goes beyond the role of a traditional innovation department.

While innovation teams often focus on improving existing products, services, or processes, startup units are typically tasked with creating entirely new businesses. Their role is to identify opportunities, validate market demand, develop products, and launch ventures that could eventually become standalone companies.

These teams often combine entrepreneurs, product managers, developers, strategists, and industry specialists. Many operate separately from core business units, giving them greater flexibility to experiment and move quickly without becoming trapped in corporate bureaucracy.

The goal is not innovation for its own sake, but the creation of sustainable businesses capable of generating new revenue streams and opening new markets for the parent organization.

The Venture-Building Influence

The rise of internal startup units is closely linked to the growing popularity of venture-building models globally.

Unlike venture capital firms that invest in startups founded by others, venture builders actively participate in creating companies from the ground up. They identify opportunities, assemble teams, develop products, and provide operational support throughout the startup journey.

The model has gained traction in Saudi Arabia through venture studios and startup factories that treat entrepreneurship as a structured, repeatable process rather than a matter of chance.

For conglomerates, the appeal is clear. Instead of investing in multiple external startups and hoping a few succeed, they can build businesses aligned with their own strategic priorities while leveraging assets they already possess.

Different Models Are Emerging

Saudi companies are experimenting with several approaches to venture building.

Some have established dedicated venture studios that operate almost independently, identifying opportunities and creating startups from scratch. Others have launched innovation labs focused on emerging technologies and experimentation, with successful projects sometimes evolving into standalone businesses.

A third approach involves commercializing internal capabilities. Technology solutions originally developed for internal use can become products serving external customers. Some companies are also pursuing joint ventures with entrepreneurs, international technology firms, or specialized operators to combine corporate resources with startup expertise.

Despite these differences, all of these models share the same objective: creating new growth engines beyond traditional business lines.

Saudi Companies Putting the Model into Practice

While Saudi Arabia's corporate venture-building ecosystem is still developing, several organizations have established structures that reflect different approaches to creating and scaling new ventures. Importantly, not all of these initiatives follow the same model. Some focus on building businesses internally, while others support external startups or expand through internal innovation.

One of the strongest examples of venture building in the Kingdom is Saudi Aramco. Through the Saudi Aramco Entrepreneurship Center, known as Wa'ed, the company has spent more than a decade supporting entrepreneurship and business creation. Complementing this effort are Wa'ed Ventures, Aramco's venture capital arm, and LAB7, its venture-building and product development platform. Together, these initiatives form part of a broader ecosystem designed to identify opportunities, develop technologies, support entrepreneurs, and help transform ideas into scalable businesses. While not a traditional startup studio in the Silicon Valley sense, Aramco has built one of the Kingdom's most structured pathways for venture creation and commercialization.

Beyond Aramco, other organizations are helping shape an emerging venture-building ecosystem. Dussur, established by Saudi Aramco, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), and SABIC, was created to develop strategic industrial businesses that advance Saudi Arabia's localization and industrialization ambitions. Unlike traditional investment vehicles, Dussur often works alongside partners to establish and grow new industrial ventures, making it one of the Kingdom's most prominent examples of institution-backed company building.

Another notable example is Sanabil Studio, a venture-building platform launched by Sanabil Investments. The studio works with entrepreneurs to identify market opportunities, validate ideas, assemble teams, and launch startups. Its model reflects the growing popularity of venture building in Saudi Arabia, where startup creation is increasingly being approached through structured processes rather than relying solely on individual founders.

Not all corporate innovation initiatives, however, focus on creating ventures internally. Some organizations have chosen to engage with the startup ecosystem through external support platforms. stc's InspireU program is a leading example. Since its launch, InspireU has provided startups with mentorship, funding, training, and access to industry networks, helping strengthen the Kingdom's entrepreneurial ecosystem while giving stc exposure to emerging technologies and business models.

Other companies demonstrate how internal innovation can create entirely new commercial opportunities without necessarily operating formal venture studios. Elm is one such example. Originally focused on digital government solutions, the company has steadily expanded its portfolio through the development of digital products and platforms serving both public- and private-sector customers. Its evolution illustrates how large organizations can leverage internal expertise, technology capabilities, and market knowledge to create new business lines and revenue streams.

The distinction is important. Building startups internally, supporting external entrepreneurs, and expanding through internal innovation are different approaches, but all reflect a broader shift in how Saudi organizations think about growth and innovation. While the Kingdom still has relatively few publicly documented corporate venture studios compared with more mature markets, an increasing number of organizations are experimenting with new ways to create businesses rather than simply invest in them. As competition intensifies and economic diversification accelerates, these models are likely to play an increasingly important role in shaping the next generation of Saudi companies.

Why the Model Makes Sense

One reason internal startup units are attracting attention is that they address several challenges commonly faced by traditional startups.

Access to funding is perhaps the most obvious advantage. Corporate-backed ventures typically begin with financial resources already in place, allowing teams to focus on product development and market validation rather than fundraising.

These ventures also benefit from established customer networks, supplier relationships, distribution channels, and industry connections that can accelerate growth significantly. Brand recognition provides another advantage. While independent startups often spend years building trust, ventures launched under respected corporate brands may gain credibility much faster.

Perhaps most importantly, they can draw upon decades of industry expertise. Large corporations possess deep knowledge of customer behavior, operational challenges, and market dynamics that can help new ventures avoid costly mistakes and identify opportunities more effectively.

Yet There Are Real Challenges

Despite these advantages, corporate venture building is far from a guaranteed success.

The biggest obstacle is often culture. Startups thrive on experimentation, rapid iteration, and calculated risk-taking, while large corporations are typically structured around governance, efficiency, and risk management. These priorities can sometimes clash.

A startup team may want to launch a product quickly, while corporate procedures require multiple layers of approval. Without the right balance, the speed and agility that make startups effective can easily be lost.

Talent acquisition presents another challenge. Experienced entrepreneurs and startup operators often prefer environments that offer autonomy and flexibility. Attracting and retaining such talent within a corporate structure requires thoughtful leadership, clear incentives, and sufficient independence.

Measuring success can also be difficult. New ventures rarely become profitable immediately, requiring organizations to evaluate progress based on learning, customer adoption, and market validation rather than short-term financial performance alone.

The Future Ahead

As Saudi Arabia continues its economic transformation, internal startup units are likely to play an increasingly prominent role within the private sector.

Sectors such as artificial intelligence, fintech, logistics, healthtech, climate technology, enterprise software, and industrial technology offer significant opportunities for corporate venture building. Future startup units may also collaborate more closely with universities, research institutions, entrepreneurs, and government-backed innovation programs, strengthening links between established corporations and the wider startup ecosystem.

What is clear is that the relationship between corporations and entrepreneurship is changing. Saudi conglomerates are no longer content with supporting innovation from the sidelines. Increasingly, they are becoming builders themselves, creating startups, launching new ventures, and shaping the next generation of businesses that could define the Kingdom’s economic future.

In many ways, this marks a new chapter for Saudi corporate innovation, one in which some of the country’s largest organizations are beginning to think and act more like startups themselves.

Ghada Ismail

In the startup world, raising money is often treated as the ultimate sign of success. Big funding rounds generate headlines, attract attention, and create momentum around companies. But experienced founders know something many first-time entrepreneurs eventually learn the hard way: not all money behaves the same way.

Some investors stay committed when growth slows down or markets become uncertain. Others disappear the moment conditions become difficult.

That difference is what people in the investment world call “sticky capital.”

What Is Sticky Capital?

Sticky capital refers to long-term investment that stays committed to a company or market despite temporary setbacks, economic uncertainty, or market volatility.

Unlike speculative funding that chases trends and quick returns, sticky capital focuses on sustainable growth. Investors providing this type of funding understand that building successful businesses takes time and that difficult periods are part of the process.

In simple terms, sticky capital is often described as “loyal money.”

Sticky capital usually involves:

• Investors staying during downturns instead of exiting quickly 
• Long-term commitment over short-term gains 
• Patience with slower growth periods 
• Strategic guidance alongside financial support 
• Focus on fundamentals rather than hype 

For founders, this kind of stability can be incredibly valuable. It creates room to experiment, solve problems, and improve the business without constantly worrying about investors suddenly pulling back.

Not All Money Behaves the Same Way

In the startup ecosystem, founders often celebrate funding rounds as signs of success. But experienced entrepreneurs know that where the money comes from matters just as much as how much is raised.

Some investors aggressively enter trending sectors during boom periods, chasing hype and fast returns. But when markets cool down, they pull back just as quickly.

This is often called “tourist capital.”

Tourist capital follows momentum. Sticky capital follows conviction.

The difference is simple:

Tourist Capital

• Chases trends and hype 
• Focused on quick returns 
• Pulls back quickly during downturns 

Sticky Capital

• Thinks long term 
• Supports sustainable growth 
• Remains committed during uncertainty 

That difference can completely shape a startup’s future.

Why is Sticky Capital important?

Startups operate in uncertain environments by nature. Markets shift, customer behavior changes, competition evolves, and economic slowdowns can happen unexpectedly.

During those moments, stable investors become extremely important.

Startups backed by sticky capital are often better positioned to survive difficult cycles because they are not forced into panic-driven decisions. Instead of abandoning long-term goals outright, they can focus on improving products, refining operations, and adapting strategically.

Sticky capital also allows founders to think beyond short-term optics. When entrepreneurs know their investors believe in the bigger vision, they are more likely to invest in talent, infrastructure, and long-term product development instead of obsessing over the next funding round.

In many cases, companies built with patient capital become healthier businesses because they are focused on fundamentals rather than hype.

To Wrap Things Up…

Every startup ecosystem wants investment flowing into the market. But sustainable growth depends on attracting the right type of investment.

Sticky capital encourages healthier founder-investor relationships, supports long-term thinking, and helps startups survive difficult cycles without losing focus.

Most importantly, it creates businesses built on resilience rather than hype.

Ghada Ismail

A few years ago, launching a startup in Saudi Arabia usually followed a familiar path. Founders would enter an accelerator, pitch investors, secure early funding, and then try to figure everything else out along the way. Today, a different model is beginning to take shape across the Kingdom, one that is less about simply financing ideas and more about building companies from the ground up.

Welcome to the era of venture studios.

Across Saudi Arabia, a growing number of venture builders are quietly changing how startups are created. Instead of waiting for entrepreneurs to arrive with fully formed businesses, these studios help shape the idea itself, validate the market, recruit talent, build products, and guide operations from day one. In many cases, they act less like investors and more like co-founders.

The rise of players such as VMS, Sanabil Studio, and Lean Node Venture Studios reflects a broader shift happening inside Saudi Arabia’s startup ecosystem. The conversation is no longer just about funding entrepreneurs. It is increasingly about building startups systematically, repeatedly, and at scale.

Moving Beyond the Accelerator Boom

For years, Saudi Arabia has focused heavily on laying the groundwork for entrepreneurship. Government initiatives, accelerator programs, startup competitions, and venture capital funds helped create momentum in the ecosystem. As investment activity accelerated, the Kingdom quickly became one of the Middle East’s largest startup funding markets.

But money alone could not solve every challenge.

Many startups still struggle with execution. Some founders had strong technical skills but limited experience building scalable businesses. Others found it difficult to navigate regulations, recruit the right talent, localize products, or acquire customers efficiently.

That gap created space for venture studios to emerge.

Unlike traditional venture capital firms that invest after a startup already exists, venture studios often start much earlier. They identify opportunities internally, test market demand, help shape business models, and sometimes build entire companies alongside entrepreneurs from the earliest stages.

Globally, the model has already produced major companies within various sectors. Saudi Arabia is now adapting the concept to fit its own market dynamics and economic ambitions.

Why the Model Makes Sense in Saudi Arabia

The venture studio approach fits naturally with where Saudi Arabia’s ecosystem stands today.

Under Vision 2030, the Kingdom is trying to diversify its economy, accelerate innovation, create private-sector jobs, attract global talent, and localize emerging industries, all at the same time.

Venture studios actually offer a structure that supports many of those goals simultaneously.

Unlike short-term accelerator programs, studios stay involved throughout the startup journey. They provide operational support, legal guidance, hiring assistance, technical development, fundraising strategy, and business connections under one roof.

For first-time founders, that reduces risk considerably.

For investors, it creates a more controlled environment where ideas are validated before large amounts of capital are deployed.

And for Saudi Arabia, venture studios provide a way to systematically produce startups in strategic sectors such as fintech, AI, logistics, tourism, enterprise software, and digital commerce.

That is why many Saudi venture studios no longer describe themselves simply as investment firms. They position themselves as company builders.

VMS and Saudi Arabia’s Soft-Landing Opportunity

Among the more visible players in this space is Value Makers Studio (VMS), which positions itself as both a venture studio and a platform helping regional and international startups enter the Saudi market.

Based in Riyadh, VMS provides support that goes beyond capital, including technology development, legal assistance, marketing support, financial guidance, and access to Saudi business networks. The company also operates initiatives such as the ‘VMS Bridge Program,’ which focuses on connecting startups from emerging markets with Saudi Arabia’s innovation ecosystem.

That ‘soft-landing’ approach is becoming increasingly relevant as more foreign founders and international startups look toward Saudi Arabia as a regional expansion market.

VMS also reflects a broader trend emerging across the Kingdom’s startup ecosystem, where venture studios are evolving into ecosystem connectors alongside their company-building role. In practice, this often means helping startups navigate relationships with investors, corporations, regulators, and local business networks, presenting an advantage that can significantly influence how quickly companies scale in Saudi Arabia.

Sanabil Studio and Institutional Startup Creation

A stronger example of institutional venture building can be seen in Sanabil Studio, which was established by Sanabil Investments, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund. 

The studio focuses on building startups from the earliest stages, working closely with founders across ideation, prototyping, MVP development, product design, engineering, hiring, finance, and growth support. According to the studio’s website, it combines capital, market insight, and hands-on operational support to help founders launch and scale ventures in Saudi Arabia. 

What makes Sanabil Studio particularly notable is its combination of sovereign-backed capital with hands-on company creation. Unlike traditional venture capital firms that typically invest after startups are already established, venture studios such as Sanabil Studio participate much earlier in the company-building process, often helping shape ventures from ideation through early execution. 

Lean Node and the “Startup Factory” Approach

Another important player is Lean Node, which focuses on building ventures internally while supporting entrepreneurs through structured startup-building programs.

According to the company, it has helped launch more than 18 startups since 2017 using a repeatable venture-building framework designed to reduce common startup risks.

Lean Node highlights one of the biggest advantages of the venture studio model: operational centralization.

Instead of every startup building separate HR systems, legal structures, financial operations, and development teams from scratch, studios create shared infrastructure that multiple ventures can use simultaneously.

This lowers costs, speeds up execution, and allows studios to test ideas more rapidly across different sectors.

In many ways, the model resembles a startup factory more than a conventional investment firm.

Lean Node and the “Startup Factory” Approach

Another important player in Saudi Arabia’s venture studio ecosystem is Lean Node, which focuses on building ventures internally while supporting entrepreneurs through structured startup-building programs.

According to the company’s website, Lean Node has helped build more than 18 startups since 2017 through a venture-building model focused on developing scalable businesses across the MENA region. The studio describes itself as “an engine that builds disruptive products” using a “tested and streamlined process” designed to maximize success while lowering risk. 

The company’s structure reflects one of the core characteristics of the venture studio model: centralized operational support. Rather than every startup independently building teams and systems from scratch, venture studios typically provide shared access to areas such as product development, operational guidance, technical expertise, and business support. This approach can reduce early-stage costs and accelerate execution across multiple ventures simultaneously. 

Lean Node has also expanded into specialized venture-building initiatives, including fintech-focused startup creation through partnerships such as Lean Fintech, launched with Mjalis Investment during LEAP 2023. 

In practice, the model operates more like a startup production platform than a conventional investment firm, with venture studios playing an active role in company creation rather than acting solely as financial backers. 

Closing the Founder Experience Gap

One reason venture studios are gaining traction in Saudi Arabia is that they directly address one of the ecosystem’s biggest challenges: experience.

The Kingdom has no shortage of ambitious entrepreneurs or available capital. What remains relatively limited, however, is the number of experienced startup operators who have repeatedly built and scaled companies.

Founders across the ecosystem frequently talk about the difficulties of navigating fundraising, finding product-market fit, hiring effectively, and scaling operations.

Venture studios attempt to shorten that learning curve.

Instead of forcing founders to figure everything out alone, studios embed experienced operators, engineers, marketers, product designers, and venture builders directly into the process from the beginning.

The Challenges Behind the Hype

Still, venture studios are not a perfect solution.

Some entrepreneurs argue that studio models can dilute founder ownership too aggressively. Others question whether startups created inside structured environments develop the same resilience as companies built independently.

There are also operational risks.

Running multiple startups simultaneously requires significant capital, talent, and management discipline. Internationally, several venture studios have struggled to maintain strong long-term performance across large portfolios.

Another open question is whether venture studios can consistently produce truly disruptive innovation rather than safer, optimized versions of existing business models.

Saudi Arabia’s ecosystem is still young enough that many of these questions remain unanswered.

Even so, supporters of the model believe the Kingdom’s current market conditions make venture studios especially relevant. In an ecosystem that is still building institutional startup knowledge, structured company creation may offer advantages that traditional founder-led approaches cannot always provide on their own.

The Future Ahead

The next phase of Saudi Arabia’s venture studio ecosystem will likely become far more specialized.

Future studios may focus entirely on sectors such as AI, cybersecurity, climate tech, gaming, logistics, biotech, fintech, or deep tech. Some early signs of that trend are already emerging through initiatives tied to advanced technologies and national innovation priorities.

AI-native venture studios could also become increasingly common as generative AI dramatically reduces development timelines and startup operating costs.

At the same time, international venture builders are expected to form more partnerships inside the Kingdom as Saudi Arabia continues positioning itself as one of the region’s largest startup markets.

What is already becoming clear, however, is that Saudi Arabia’s ecosystem is entering a new stage of maturity. The early era of startup hype is gradually giving way to something more structured, operational, and institutionalized. And venture studios may end up playing a central role in that transition, not simply by funding the next generation of Saudi startups, but by helping build them from scratch.

Kholoud Hussein 

Saudi Arabia’s food and beverage landscape is entering one of its most dynamic periods in recent history. Dining has become a central expression of the Kingdom’s cultural transformation—fueled by an expanding middle class, rising disposable income, record spending on experiences, and a powerful shift toward homegrown concepts. As restaurants multiply across Riyadh, Jeddah, and emerging destination districts, one bottleneck remains stubbornly persistent: access to growth capital that reflects the real economics of hospitality.

Traditional financing tools—rigid bank loans, equity dilution, and short-term discount-driven customer acquisition—have long failed to match the realities of an industry defined by seasonality, thin margins, and escalating operating costs. This gap has created a critical need for financial models built specifically for restaurants, not adapted from generic SME templates. It is within this landscape that SPICE has emerged as one of the sector’s most closely watched disruptors.

Founded by a veteran entrepreneurial team with a two-decade track record in F&B technology, SPICE is introducing what it calls Dining Capital—a Sharia-compliant, zero-debt financing model that pre-purchases future dining credit to provide restaurants with upfront, non-dilutive cash tied directly to guest demand. At the same time, the company is building an invite-only dining platform designed to attract high-value customers, offering curated recommendations and instant rewards that strengthen restaurant loyalty without eroding brand equity.

With Saudi Arabia as its headquarters and primary growth market, SPICE is positioning itself at the intersection of fintech, hospitality, and Vision 2030’s experience-led economy. The Kingdom now represents nearly one-third of all POS transactions in the region’s foodservice sector, and as tourism accelerates and giga-projects set new expectations for hospitality, the demand for smart, aligned financing structures is only growing.

In this exclusive interview with Sharikat Mubasher, co-founder and CEO Zeid Husban discusses the economics behind Dining Capital, SPICE’s strategic alignment with Vision 2030, how the company underwrites risk, and why premium dining represents one of the most attractive investment categories across the GCC. He also reflects on past exits—including ifood.jo and POSRocket—and how those lessons shaped SPICE’s operational philosophy. As the company scales across Saudi Arabia and prepares for GCC expansion, Husban lays out a vision for a future in which growth capital, curated demand, and technology-driven guest experiences operate as a single, integrated ecosystem powering the region’s next generation of restaurant brands.

SPICE positions itself as a catalyst for a “premium dining movement.” How does your Sharia‑compliant, zero‑debt financing model reshape the way premium and fine‑dining restaurants access growth capital in Saudi Arabia today?

We started SPICE because, honestly, financing for restaurants is not easy and it’s broken. Banks still look at restaurants like any other SME. They expect fixed repayments every month, even though the F&B industry is faced with seasonality, volatility, and very thin margins. Great restaurants and their operators end up punished for investing in people, product, and the dining experience.

That is why we looked to build a solution, given our background in creating F&B tech solutions. Our answer to that is what we call Dining Capital. Instead of giving a loan with interest, we pre‑purchase future dining credit from the restaurant and give restaurants upfront, Sharia‑compliant cash that does not sit as debt on their balance sheet. That credit is then used over time as SPICE guests dine and pay through our consumer app.

So the “repayment” happens naturally through real visits that generate revenue, not through a fixed schedule that ignores how this business actually works. It lets premium venues grow, without resorting to discounts or short‑term fixes that hurt their brand. For us, that is how you genuinely support a premium dining movement in Saudi.

Saudi Arabia is seeing unprecedented momentum in the foodservice sector, with restaurants representing nearly a third of all POS transactions. How is SPICE aligning its investment strategy with Vision 2030 and the Kingdom’s rapidly expanding F&B landscape?

If you spend any time in Saudi Arabia today, you can feel how much dining has become part of the country’s new story. Vision 2030 put hospitality and tourism at the center, and you see it in how people go out, where they spend, and how quickly new concepts are opening. This is not just with nationals and residents, but tourists as well. 

We chose to make Riyadh our headquarters because we believe Saudi is where you can build truly category‑defining companies, not only for the region but globally. Every riyal of Dining Capital we deploy ends up as real spend at partner venues. That means more local brands, more jobs, and more reasons for residents and visitors to have a great dining experience with Saudi hospitality.

Our strategy is very focused. We choose to partner with select premium restaurants that we think should become part of the country’s dining fabric, and then we tie their funding directly to guest demand. That way, our growth, their growth, and Vision 2030’s push for an experience‑led economy are all moving in the same direction.

You’re offering what you call “Dining Capital” upfront cash with no interest and no fixed repayments. Can you walk us through the economics of this model and how you mitigate risk while still enabling restaurants to scale?

The model is quite simple and has no hidden intentions. We give a restaurant an upfront lump sum, and in return, we receive a larger pool of future dining credit that will be used by SPICE diners over time, who are invited to use our app. There is no interest, no fixed instalments, and no equity dilution. The restaurant is simply agreeing to honour this pre‑purchased credit at face value whenever our guests dine. Guests simply book and pay through the app. Every time they pay, they get rewarded with 20% cashback, which can add up to a significant amount. 

But that is why we need to manage risk very closely, which explains why we are selective with the brands we fund. We work only with premium and upper‑casual venues that meet high standards on consistency, concept, and brand. Second, we size each financing opportunity based on realistic future demand, using our experience, data, and technology.  Third, we do not just wire money and disappear. We actively drive demand through our invite‑only diners, so capital and demand always work together.

For the operator, it feels like getting growth equity without giving up ownership. This kind of working capital eliminates the headache of monthly repayment pressure. For us, it creates a new, Sharia‑compliant asset class that is directly backed by how often people dine at these venues.

On the consumer side, SPICE is building an invite‑only dining platform with concierge features and 20% instant rewards. How does your technology shape the guest experience, and what competitive advantage does this create for your restaurant partners?

On the consumer side, we are trying to build the app that serious diners wish already existed. SPICE is invite‑only. That’s why it feels more like a membership than a mass deals app, and every venue on it is handpicked. If a venue is on SPICE, it is because we would happily send our friends and family there. It is the app that people in the know use when they have to choose where to go. 

Inside the app, you can quickly find the right spot for a date, a business lunch, or a family dinner, then pay in‑app and receive 20 percent instant rewards on your bill. Over time, the product learns where you like to go, what kind of vibe you prefer, and even what kind of occasion you are planning. It starts to feel like a digital concierge that understands your taste.

For restaurants, that experience matters a lot. They are not getting random coupon hunters. They are getting high‑value guests who come for the experience first and appreciate that SPICE is tied to quality, not cheap deals. That combination of curated demand plus instant rewards is a strong edge for our partners.

Your team has a strong entrepreneurial track record, having led successful exits such as ifood.jo and POSRocket. How have these previous experiences informed SPICE’s operational strategy and its expansion approach in the GCC?

As founders, we have been in food and hospitality tech for almost twenty years now. We built ifood.jo, Jordan’s first food ordering platform, which was acquired by Delivery Hero, and POSRocket, a cloud POS for restaurants that was acquired by Foodics. So we have seen this industry from a lot of different angles, from the kitchen printer to the customer’s phone. More importantly, Wadi, Youssef, and I have built together, and we complement each other’s strengths. 

On the B2B side, we saw great operators struggling with cash flow, and we saw how banks often did not really understand restaurant risk. On the B2C side, we watched as diners were trained to chase discounts, which might look good in the short term but slowly erodes brands and guest trust. In fact, many diners don’t like to show they use discounts, especially when it comes to paying at premium restaurants. 

With SPICE, we are essentially solving the problems we kept running into. Operationally, we decided not to build just another F&B service. We are building a movement where capital, demand generation, and guest experience are tightly connected. That is also why our expansion plan is careful by design. We are 100% focused on Saudi first. After proving the model works and scales, we’ll take it into other markets in the GCC. 

Saudi Arabia is your primary focus today, but you’ve previously hinted at wider regional expansion. What can you share about SPICE’s plans across the Gulf, and what markets are you prioritizing next?

Saudi Arabia will always be home for SPICE. It is where we launched and where we are building the Dining Capital category. It is home not just for the brand but for our team and our families. But from the beginning, we knew the model would resonate across the Gulf.

Markets across the GCC have high dining‑out spend, very savvy consumers, and restaurants facing similar challenges with funding and loyalty. Yet no one has really owned the premium dining capital and cashback space in a way that feels curated and long-term. This category is non-existent, and we are essentially building from the ground up.

We plan to earn the right to expand by proving what we do in Saudi Arabia first. Once we have shown that Dining Capital can become part of how premium restaurants in Riyadh and other major cities fund growth, we will start rolling out into other Gulf markets where Sharia‑compliant, non‑debt funding and premium dining experiences are just as relevant.

In each market, we will adapt the curation to local taste, but our core stays the same, where we partner with recognised venues, provide zero‑debt growth capital, and enable an elevated, rewarding dining experience. Eventually, we want a SPICE member from Riyadh to land in Dubai or Kuwait, open the same app, and instantly feel at home.

Access to capital is still one of the biggest bottlenecks for restaurants looking to scale. From your perspective, what structural changes or financial innovations are needed to unlock the next wave of F&B growth in the Kingdom?

If you talk to operators in Saudi Arabia, many will tell you the same thing. Getting the first location off the ground is hard, but getting from one or two branches to a real group is often even harder, simply because the right kind of capital is not always available.

Banks tend to apply generic SME models that do not fully reflect how hospitality works. Equity investors often want to back platforms, not individual restaurant brands. So a lot of very good concepts get stuck in the middle, even while the overall market is booming. Starting a restaurant isn’t cheap either, with a few million riyals needed in upfront capital. 

We think the next wave of growth will come from a mix of new structures and better data. Instruments like Dining Capital, where funding is Sharia‑compliant, non‑dilutive, and repaid through actual guest visits, are one important piece. Another is using real transaction and behaviour data to underwrite restaurant performance instead of relying purely on static projections. That’s why we are investing heavily in our technology so we can model the data right, but also target the right audience for each brand. 

The other important priority is alignment with the KSA leadership’s vision for the country. As tourism and hospitality targets ramp up, you need funding tools that are designed specifically for restaurants in key locations, especially around giga‑projects and destination districts. With SPICE, we are trying to show what that can look like when you connect capital directly to demand and treat the dining experience itself as the asset.

With Sharia‑compliant financing and consumer rewards merging into a single ecosystem, where do you see SPICE in the next three to five years? Are external investments or new funding rounds part of that growth trajectory?

When we think about the next three to five years, we do not just think in terms of app metrics. We imagine a world where Dining Capital is a normal part of the conversation for premium restaurants across Saudi Arabia and the GCC.

If a group is planning a new branch or a new concept, we want them to reach out to us first and seek Dining Capital from SPICE. This isn’t just about lending once, but being a real partner in the growth journey of high-potential brands. On the diner side, if you care about where you eat and how you are rewarded, we want closing the bill with SPICE to feel like the natural way to end a great meal.

Right now, we are well-funded and focused on deploying capital to restaurants. At the end of the day, we want to be an active partner supporting the F&B ecosystem. In pioneering a new category around Dining Capital and helping define what premium dining in this region feels like, we hope to play a role in how restaurants grow and how guests experience and remember each meal.

Kholoud Hussein 

Saudi Arabia is witnessing the rise of a new socioeconomic force reshaping its cities, workplaces, and daily behaviors: the Digital Middle Class. This emerging demographic—defined not purely by income, but by digital fluency, technological consumption, and ability to thrive in a data-driven economy—is rapidly becoming one of the most important engines of national transformation. Powered by Vision 2030, fast-expanding digital infrastructure, and a tech-driven private sector, this group is changing not only how Saudis live, but how they learn, work, build wealth, and participate in the economy.

In earlier eras, entering the middle class required stable employment, home ownership, and rising disposable income. Today, digital fluency has become just as important. Access to cloud services, AI-driven productivity tools, fintech platforms, digital payments, e-commerce participation, and new types of online work are defining what opportunity looks like in Saudi Arabia. As a result, the new digital middle class is not a passive outcome of economic change—it is an active contributor to the Kingdom’s transformation.

“Digital transformation is not just a technological project. It is a social and economic movement,” Minister of Communications and Information Technology Abdullah Al-Swaha said recently. “Our goal is to empower every Saudi citizen with the tools needed to participate in a digital economy, and to lead in it, not just adapt to it.” His words reflect the government’s central thesis: expanding digital participation expands the middle class, and expanding the middle class accelerates the nation’s economic diversification.

A New Definition of Wealth: From Assets to Access and Digital Capability

Digital transformation has redefined what economic mobility looks like. Traditionally, wealth accumulation depended on physical assets—real estate, cars, or retail businesses. But digital-era wealth often grows from intangible assets: data literacy, technological skills, digital entrepreneurship, ability to sell services online, and participation in the digital financial ecosystem.

Saudi Arabia has one of the world’s fastest-growing digital economies, with the ICT sector surpassing $40 billion in market size and maintaining growth rates far above global averages. This economic expansion has created new pathways into the middle class—ones that do not require traditional capital.

Skills such as coding, cloud computing, fintech operations, digital marketing, and AI analysis now open doors to higher-income employment. Remote work, freelancing platforms, and digital marketplaces such as Marsool, Salla, Zid, and Jahez have enabled thousands of Saudis to run businesses with minimal overhead. Even the creative economy has become a serious economic opportunity, with thousands entering fields like game development, digital art, and content production.

For many Saudis entering this new class, the smartphone—not a storefront or an office—has become their first business tool.

How Digital Transformation Expanded the Middle Class

The expansion of digital access has been foundational. Saudi Arabia today ranks among the top nations globally in 5G deployment and internet speed, and more than 98% of the population is connected online. This digital infrastructure has become the gateway to new economic participation.

Government-led platforms such as Absher, Tawakkalna, Nafath, and Musaned have normalized digital trust and online service use, reducing barriers that once required physical presence and long processing times. This shift has empowered citizens to perceive digital services as reliable, safe, and efficient—key ingredients for the rise of the digital middle class.

The digital payments revolution has been equally transformative. The Saudi Central Bank reports that digital payment adoption exceeded 62% in 2023, surpassing Vision 2030’s original target seven years ahead of schedule. This shift has enabled new financial behaviors: online purchases, subscription-based services, e-wallet savings, and investment through digital platforms.

Fintech startups such as Tamara, HyperPay, STC Pay, Tabby, and Raqamyah have introduced financial tools that were previously difficult to access, from installment payments to peer-to-peer financing and micro-investment platforms. As fintech penetration deepened, financial inclusion expanded, allowing more Saudis to build credit histories, access new types of capital, and participate in the digital economy.

The Digital Skills Boom and the Birth of a New Labor Force

One of the most significant shifts is the transformation of the labor force. Saudi Arabia has invested billions into upskilling its population, with programs from SDAIA, MCIT, and Human Capability Development Program (HCDP) targeting emerging fields such as AI, cloud computing, cybersecurity, and software engineering.

The government announced that more than 100,000 Saudis will be trained in AI and advanced technologies by 2030. These investments are not academic exercises; they are building a workforce capable of supporting a trillion-riyal digital economy.

This new labor force is essential for the rise of the digital middle class. Higher-skilled digital roles offer higher salaries, flexible work, and career mobility—traits that rapidly elevate individuals into middle-class stability. Remote work adoption has also increased dramatically, enabling Saudis—especially youth and women—to enter the labor market on new terms.

Female participation in the workforce has surged past 34 percent, a milestone that would not have been possible without digital work environments and technology-enabled jobs. Many of these new participants are entering tech-enabled roles in e-commerce, cloud services, fintech operations, and digital content creation.

Startups as Engines of Digital Mobility

Startups have become one of the most influential forces accelerating the rise of the digital middle class in Saudi Arabia. Already, the Kingdom is the fastest-growing startup market in MENA, attracting more than $1.38 billion in VC investments in 2023 alone.

Startups across sectors—including mobility, logistics, AI, fintech, healthtech, and retail tech—are not only generating economic value but also creating new types of digital employment.

Examples include:

• Jahez, HungerStation, and Mrsool – enabling gig-work and flexible income generation.
• Salla and Zid – empowering thousands of small online merchants to launch digital stores with minimal technical knowledge.
• Lean Technologies and Hakbah – building fintech rails that democratize access to financial services.
• Taffi and Labayh – creating new digital service categories in mental wellness and personal styling.

These startups are directly supporting the expansion of the digital middle class by creating new revenue channels, entrepreneur-friendly tools, and knowledge-based employment. Their models lower entry barriers and expand economic inclusion.

Startups are also filling market gaps—payment infrastructure, logistics optimization, AI-driven services, digital ID systems—that directly enhance citizens’ ability to participate in the digital economy.

The Private Sector’s Expanding Role

As the Kingdom continues its diversification roadmap, the private sector has become a major driver of digital transformation. Telecom companies such as STC, Mobily, and Zain have built world-class digital infrastructure. Banks and fintechs are investing heavily in digital-first strategies. Large retailers are digitizing entire supply chains, onboarding thousands of Saudi employees into tech-enabled roles.

Global tech players, including Google Cloud, Oracle, and Huawei, have opened cloud regions in Saudi Arabia, bringing with them skills development programs and new job opportunities.

These investments create an environment where digital middle-class behaviors—online consumption, digital entrepreneurship, remote employment—become the norm rather than the exception.

Private sector innovation is also accelerating the adoption of new technologies. From AI-driven healthcare platforms to robotics in logistics, technology is reshaping service accessibility and quality. As these services expand, so does demand for digital talent, further strengthening the digital middle class.

Digital Trust: The Foundation of Behavior Change

The shift in Saudi citizens’ confidence in digital services cannot be overstated. According to SDAIA, public trust in government digital platforms exceeds 90 percent, one of the highest levels globally. This trust is the backbone of digital transformation.

When citizens believe that digital platforms are secure, reliable, and efficient, they adopt them with confidence. This adoption reduces transaction costs, increases economic participation, and boosts productivity—key characteristics of a stable middle class.

Startups play a meaningful role here. By offering secure, user-friendly, and transparent services, they reinforce the culture of digital trust. Fintech companies, in particular, invest heavily in compliance, security, and transparency—strengthening users' confidence in managing money online.

The Future: A Digital Middle Class That Builds, Not Just Consumes

As Saudi Arabia evolves into a digital-first economy, the digital middle class is expected to become an even more influential driver of economic growth. By 2030, the Kingdom aims for:

• A digital economy contributing 30 percent of GDP
• Hundreds of thousands of high-skilled digital jobs
• A global leadership position in AI and cloud-driven industries
• A thriving digital entrepreneurship ecosystem

The future digital middle class will not simply consume technology. It will build it—creating intellectual property, launching startups, exporting digital services, and shaping the Kingdom’s place in the global digital economy.

The rise of AI-native startups, deep-tech ventures, and digital-first SMEs demonstrates this shift. As more Saudi citizens gain advanced digital skills, the country transitions from being a user of global technologies to becoming a producer of them.

Finally, the rise of the digital middle class in Saudi Arabia represents far more than the adoption of apps or online platforms. It marks the restructuring of society around new definitions of opportunity, skill, and economic participation.

Saudi Arabia’s transformation is not only digital—it is deeply social, driven by a new generation that sees technology not as a tool, but as a pathway to agency, competitiveness, and global relevance.

As Vision 2030 continues to unfold, the digital middle class will remain one of the central pillars of economic diversification. Strong digital infrastructure, high adoption rates, a flourishing startup ecosystem, and ambitious government programs are transforming the Kingdom into a global model for digital economic development.

Ghada Ismail

Every year, startups launch with big ambitions, exciting ideas, and dreams of becoming the next success story. Founders spend months building apps, designing products, and preparing launch plans. But many startups run into the same problem: they create something people do not actually need.

That is why validation matters.

Before investing serious time, money, and energy into a startup, founders need to know whether there is genuine demand for what they are building. Validation is not about killing creativity or slowing momentum. It is about making smarter decisions early and avoiding costly mistakes later.

Start With the Problem, Not the Product

A lot of entrepreneurs get excited about an idea and immediately jump into building the product. But successful startups usually begin with a real problem, not just a clever solution.

Ask yourself a few honest questions. What problem are you solving? Who experiences this problem every day? And is it frustrating enough that people would actively look for a solution?

The best way to answer these questions is by talking to people directly. Have conversations with potential users. Ask them about their experiences, frustrations, and current alternatives. Instead of trying to convince them that your idea is great, focus on listening.

When multiple people describe the same issue repeatedly, that is often a strong sign that you are solving something meaningful.

Define Your Audience Clearly

One common mistake founders make is trying to target everyone. In reality, validation works better when you focus on a specific group first.

Think carefully about who your ideal customer is. Are you targeting students, small businesses, working parents, freelancers, or enterprise companies? The clearer your audience, the easier it becomes to understand their behavior and needs.

For example, validating a fintech app for university students requires a completely different approach than validating software for logistics companies.

Knowing your audience also helps you understand how they currently solve the problem—and whether they would realistically switch to your solution.

Research the Market

Some founders worry when they discover competitors in the market. But competition is not always a bad sign. In many cases, it proves there is already demand.

Take time to study businesses operating in the same space. Look at their pricing, features, customer reviews, and overall positioning. Pay attention to complaints customers frequently mention because those gaps could become opportunities for your startup.

At the same time, avoid copying competitors blindly. Validation is not about building the same thing with a different logo. It is about understanding what customers still feel is missing.

And if you cannot find any competitors at all, that may also be worth questioning. Sometimes a market is untapped, but sometimes there is simply no demand.

Build a Simple Version First

You do not need a fully developed product to start validating your idea.

Many successful startups begin with a Minimum Viable Product, often called an MVP. This is a basic version of your idea, designed to quickly and cheaply test interest.

An MVP could be a landing page, a prototype, a waitlist, a short demo video, or even a social media page explaining your concept.

The goal is not perfection. The goal is learning.

Watch how people respond. Are they signing up? Asking questions? Sharing it with others? Or are they losing interest after the first interaction?

Real behavior tells you far more than polite compliments ever will.

Focus on Actions, Not Opinions

Friends and family will often encourage your idea because they want to support you. But encouragement is not validation.

The real question is whether people are willing to take action.

Would they join a waiting list? Book a demo? Pre-order the product? Pay for early access?

These actions matter because they show genuine interest. Many startup founders confuse positive feedback with actual demand, and the two are very different.

Someone saying “That sounds cool” is not the same as someone opening their wallet.

Test Whether People Will Pay

One of the biggest validation mistakes founders make is avoiding conversations about money.

A startup can solve a real problem and still fail if customers are not willing to pay enough for the solution.

Testing pricing early helps you understand whether your business model is realistic. Even simple experiments—such as different pricing options on a landing page or discussing budgets during customer interviews—can reveal valuable insights.

If people hesitate when pricing enters the conversation, you may need to rethink your positioning or value proposition.

To Wrap Things Up…

Building a startup always involves risk, but validation helps reduce unnecessary uncertainty. Instead of relying on guesses, founders learn directly from real people and real market behavior.

It may feel tempting to build quickly and figure things out later, but taking the time to validate first can save enormous amounts of time, money, and frustration in the future.

In the end, the strongest startup ideas are not just innovative; they solve real problems for real people.

Noha Gad

Saudi Arabia’s logistics ecosystem has been shaped by its strategic location, connecting the three continents with some of the world’s busiest trade routes. Since the launch of Vision 2030, the Kingdom has made broad reforms to improve coordination and performance of the logistics sector. This included restructuring key entities across transport, ports, aviation, and rail, in addition to establishing new institutions and expanding the national carriers and infrastructure projects.  

Guided by the National Transport and Logistics Strategy (NTLS), aiming to transform Saudi Arabia into a logistics hub, the sector has expanded infrastructure, strengthened connectivity, and developed logistics zones across the Kingdom. Since its launch, over $75 billion in investment contracts have been signed across multiple transport modes, according to the Vision 2030 Annual Report 2025. These efforts have improved efficiency and reduced friction across the system, supported by digitalized services, simplified procedures, and stronger integration between entities.

The Kingdom successfully achieved groundbreaking developments to build a robust network of rail, ports, and infrastructure to strengthen the ecosystem. Key milestones included the expansion of King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam, the establishment of a new logistics corridor linking Jeddah Islamic Port to Al-Khumrah, and the launch of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor. This progress reflects stronger supply chains, expanded logistics capacity, and improved integration across transport systems, alongside greater regional connectivity and streamlined customs procedures, enhancing the flow of regional and international trade.

With these developments, Saudi Arabia has advanced across global logistics indicators, supported by sustained investment in infrastructure and operational performance. The Kingdom ranked second in the G20 group with the highest cargo throughput growth rate at 32%. It was also selected among the top four emerging markets in the Agility Logistics Index in 2025.

The country also saw a notable improvement in 2024 in its global ranking for container handling, climbing to 15th place globally, as reported by Lloyd’s List. Jeddah Islamic Port moved up from 41st to 32nd, King Abdullah Port rose to 70th from 71st, and King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam advanced from 90th to 82nd, marking significant progress in the competitiveness of Saudi ports.

Mawani: A Key Enabler Revolutionizing Logistics

The Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani) is rapidly transforming Saudi Arabia into a logistics hub by launching new shipping lines, specialized logistics parks, and digital services to support Vision 2030. The authority has invested more than SAR 30 billion since the launch of Vision 2030 to develop the Kingdom’s ports, increasing its capacity by more than 50% in recent years.

In 2025, the authority added more than 34 new shipping services to the Saudi ports to reinforce Saudi Arabia’s position as a global logistics hub connecting Asia, Africa, and Europe. Key services included the Himalaya Express Service that connects King Abdulaziz Port with 12 global ports with a capacity of over 14,000 TEUs, and the MEDEX Service, which links Jeddah Islamic Port with 12 global ports, boasting a capacity of over 10,000 TEUs, in addition to RSX1, SJA, and BOS services.

In March, Mawani announced the launch of five new maritime shipping services to enhance the resilience of the logistics sector and ensure the continuity of supply chains and the flow of goods, ultimately reinforcing the Kingdom’s position as a global logistics hub. These services are:

1. Gulf Shuttle. This service was launched to connect King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam with Khalifa Bin Salman Port in Bahrain, with a capacity of up to 3,000 TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit). Through this service, Mawani aims to support national exports, improve operational efficiency at the port, and strengthen the Kingdom’s position as a regional and global logistics center.
2. Redex by CMA CGM. With a capacity of 2,594 TEUs, this service enhances maritime connectivity with Arab countries, including Egypt and Jordan, and supports global trade flows.
3. Jade by MSC. This service was added to Jeddah Islamic Port and King Abdullah Port, linking the Kingdom to eight regional and global ports and offering a capacity of 24,000 TEUs. This initiative also strengthens inland logistics connectivity between Jeddah Port and the GCC countries.
4. Maersk’s new AE19 shipping service. This high-capacity service, utilizing vessels capable of carrying up to 17,000 TEUs, links Jeddah to primary Asian hubs including Shanghai, Ningbo, Qingdao, and Xingang in China, Busan in Korea, and Tanjung Pelepas in Malaysia.
5. Hapag-Lloyd’s SE4 Service. This new route links Jeddah to major international hubs in China, Korea, and Malaysia, boasting a capacity of up to 17,000 TEUs.

Logistics Corridors Initiative 

Mawani launched this integrated initiative to enable the transport of containers arriving at the Kingdom’s western coast ports through dedicated land routes to various regions of the Kingdom and GCC countries, contributing to reduced handling time and improved operational efficiency at ports. This initiative was designed to enhance supply chain efficiency and facilitate cargo movement between the Kingdom’s ports.

Port of NEOM

This strategic gateway on the Red Sea connects the three continents while advancing regional integration through multimodal corridors with Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq. It currently provides a comprehensive suite of services designed to meet the demands of modern trade: general and project cargo, containerized shipments, bulk consignments, warehousing, and RoRo (roll on–roll off) ferry operations. 

In April, NEOM announced the launch of a new multimodal land bridge connecting Europe to the GCC through Egypt and northwest Saudi Arabia, in partnership with Pan Marine, with support from DFDS and regional logistics players. This integration allows truck-carried freight to move directly from Europe to Egypt and into the Gulf, via the Port of NEOM, offering an alternative to previous only container flows and enabling the movement of critical goods, including FMCG and other time-sensitive cargo.

The new route is already in active use by importers from several European countries, including Italy, the UK, Germany, and Poland, and provides direct access into the UAE, Kuwait, Oman, the wider GCC, and Iraq, supporting customers seeking predictable and efficient market entry. This corridor helped reduce transit time by more than 50%, featuring over 900 KM covered by shipments.

Private Sector Contribution 

The private sector has played a pivotal role in strengthening Saudi Arabia’s position as a regional and global logistics leader by driving infrastructure improvements and forming partnerships with global firms. According to the Vision 2030 Annual Report 2025, total private sector investment surpassed SAR 30 billion by the end of 2025. 

Additionally, the private sector provided privatization investments worth more than SAR 21 billion through 16 contracts and secured SAR 11 billion contracts with local and international partners to establish 29 logistics centers.

Private-sector companies also enhanced the operational efficiency of logistics services across the Kingdom by adopting advanced technologies like automation and digital supply chain systems, improving speed and reliability for trade routes connecting Asia, Europe, and Africa.

Finally, Saudi Arabia's logistics sector stands at the forefront of Vision 2030, transformed by strategic reforms, massive infrastructure investments, and innovative initiatives driven by the National Transport and Logistics Strategy. The private sector's pivotal contributions in funding, technology adoption, and global partnerships have accelerated this progress, ensuring seamless connectivity across continents and enhanced trade efficiency. As the Kingdom continues to climb global rankings and pioneer multimodal corridors, it solidifies its role as a premier logistics hub, driving economic diversification and sustainable growth for the future.

Kholoud Hussein 

Over the past decade, Saudi Arabia has undergone one of the most ambitious digital transformations in the world. What began as a broad modernization agenda under Vision 2030 has evolved into a comprehensive reengineering of everyday life—changing how citizens work, travel, receive healthcare, interact with government, shop, learn, and make financial decisions. Today, whether a Saudi needs to renew a passport, pay a bill, register a business, book a medical appointment, attend a class, or receive social services, nearly every step happens through a screen.

But this transformation is not merely a story of new apps or automated government systems. It is a story about trust. The rapid digitization of life in Saudi Arabia was only possible because citizens learned to place confidence in digital services—trusting that government portals are secure, digital payments are safe, health data is protected, and online processes are more reliable than traditional paper-based systems.

This shift did not happen overnight. Nor was it guaranteed. It required a coordinated ecosystem—government entities, regulators, startups, fintech innovators, cybersecurity institutions, and private companies—all working to build credibility, transparency, and reliability into the digital infrastructure.

Today, Saudi Arabia ranks among the world’s top countries in government digital services and cybersecurity strength. The UN E-Government Development Index lists the Kingdom among the top achievers globally; the National Cybersecurity Authority is recognized as one of the strongest frameworks in the region; and government platforms such as Absher, Tawakkalna, Najiz, and Sehhaty have become household names, embedded deeply into the daily rhythm of Saudi life.

The result is a transformation that goes beyond convenience. It has reshaped behavior, expectations, and culture—redefining what it means to navigate modern life in the Kingdom.

This is the first installment in a long-form series exploring how digital transformation is reshaping Saudi society. And there is no better starting point than the foundation of it all: digital trust.

A New Digital Rhythm: How Transformation Became a Daily Experience

To understand the depth of the shift, it is important to appreciate how digital services migrated from being an optional convenience to becoming central infrastructure.

A decade ago, a typical Saudi citizen interacting with government services often faced queues, manual paperwork, and multi-day processing times. Government offices were physical spaces; a stamped form was the gold standard of verification. That world now feels distant. Through Absher alone, citizens can complete more than 350 services—from renewing IDs to processing visas—without leaving their homes.

The Ministry of Interior has repeatedly emphasized that this shift is not only about modernization; it is about quality of life. A ministry official noted in 2024 that “citizens today expect public services to operate with the same ease and speed as the best digital companies in the world—and that is the benchmark we have adopted.”

Healthcare has undergone the same transformation. Platforms like Sehhaty and Mawid allow Saudis to book medical appointments instantly, access prescriptions, view test results, and consult doctors remotely. During the pandemic, these services became lifelines—and they remain part of everyday healthcare today.

Education, too, has become deeply digital. Students access materials online; parents monitor progress through apps; universities use AI-based systems for admissions and assessment. E-learning is not an emergency measure—it is part of the educational infrastructure.

Financial behavior has also changed dramatically. Cash usage has fallen below 20%, according to the Saudi Central Bank, and more than 95% of all transactions in retail settings now take place digitally or through contactless systems.

These transformations illustrate a deeper truth: digitization in Saudi Arabia no longer sits at the edge of society—it sits at the center.

The Meaning of Digital Trust—and Why It Matters

Digital trust refers to citizens’ confidence in the safety, transparency, reliability, and fairness of online systems. It is built on four pillars:
security, usability, accountability, and reputation.

If any of these pillars collapse, adoption weakens. But in Saudi Arabia, the opposite happened—adoption accelerated at remarkable speed.

Several factors explain why:

1. Strong national cybersecurity framework

Saudi Arabia has invested heavily in cyber defense, earning top regional rankings. This builds confidence that personal data and transactions are protected.

2. Unified and well-designed government platforms

Citizens do not navigate dozens of inconsistent portals. Instead, major services are consolidated into trusted platforms like Absher, Tawakkalna, Najiz, Sehhaty, and Ehsan.

3. Regulatory reforms that protect users

The National Data Management Office and related authorities introduced strict data governance laws that strengthened confidence in the use of personal information.

4. Visible reliability

When citizens consistently use digital services without errors or delays, confidence naturally grows. Reliability is trust in practice.

A senior official at the Digital Government Authority summarized it clearly during a recent industry conference:
“Trust is the currency of digital life. Once citizens trust a platform, everything else becomes possible.”

Behavioral Change: The Rise of the Digitally Confident Citizen

Once digital trust is established, behavior shifts rapidly. Saudi Arabia today offers several examples of large-scale behavioral changes driven by digitization.

1- A population that prefers online over offline

Surveys from 2023–2024 show that most Saudis now choose digital channels first for administrative, financial, and logistical tasks. Citizens no longer tolerate inefficiency—they expect services to be instant and accessible.

2- New expectations about transparency

Digital receipts, real-time tracking, and clear pricing have changed how Saudis evaluate services. The days of opaque processes are fading.

3- A shift in lifestyle habits

People order groceries online, track fitness digitally, use e-wallets to split bills, and rely on apps for entertainment, navigation, and health. Technology is not an add-on; it is embedded into daily routines.

4- A cultural shift toward self-service

Digital platforms empower users to complete tasks independently. This shift reduces friction and increases satisfaction.

Digital trust did not only make citizens comfortable with technology—it made them expect more from both public and private sectors.

The Role of Startups: Building Confidence Through Innovation

Saudi startups played a crucial role in strengthening digital trust. Their success stories, innovations, and reliability contributed to a broader cultural belief that digital solutions are not merely functional—they are superior to traditional ones.

Fintech startups such as STC Pay, Tweeq, HyperPay, and Tamara reshaped perceptions about digital payments and online financial services. Logistics startups improved trust in deliveries by offering real-time tracking and predictable service. Health-tech platforms democratized access to care and established proof that digital consultations can be high-quality, secure, and convenient.

Startups helped close gaps that large institutions could not fill quickly, especially in sectors where citizen expectations were evolving faster than legacy systems.

A Riyadh-based founder who runs a fast-growing fintech startup noted during a panel discussion:
“The more reliable digital services became, the more citizens trusted them. Startups had a huge role in proving that digital can be faster, safer, smoother—and that encouraged adoption across the country.”

This entrepreneurial ecosystem also reinforced the idea that digital transformation is not a government-driven process alone—it is a partnership between public institutions and private innovators.

The Economics of Trust: How Digital Confidence Generates Growth

Digital trust does not only affects behavior; it affects economic performance. When citizens trust digital systems, they transact more, invest more, consume more, and engage in entrepreneurial activity with less friction.

Saudi Arabia’s e-commerce sector, for example, grew past SAR 50 billion, driven largely by rising consumer confidence in online payments and delivery networks. Fintech adoption reached new highs, with digital wallets becoming the primary payment method for millions.

Government efficiency also surged. Digital transactions dramatically reduced operational costs across ministries, cut processing times, and improved service delivery. This efficiency increases competitiveness and makes the Kingdom a more attractive destination for foreign investment.

In short, digital trust fuels digital growth.

A Foundation for the Future: What Comes Next

Saudi Arabia’s digital transformation is still evolving. The next wave will integrate artificial intelligence more deeply into public services, expand digital health diagnostics, enable fully smart cities, automate mobility networks, and personalize services based on predictive analytics.

These advancements will require even stronger trust. But the foundation is already in place.

The Digital Government Authority has described this phase as “moving from digital services to intelligent services—where platforms anticipate needs before citizens ask.” That future requires citizens who are both digitally confident and digitally empowered. And today, Saudi Arabia has both.

Finally, the story of Saudi Arabia’s digital transformation is not only a story of technology. It is a story of confidence—built step by step, platform by platform, experience by experience. Citizens learned that digital services could be secure, reliable, efficient, and transparent. This trust enabled an ecosystem to flourish, startups to thrive, and daily life to be redefined.

Saudi society is not merely adopting digital tools—it is embracing a digital identity. And as the Kingdom moves toward a fully integrated digital future, digital trust will remain the invisible infrastructure supporting every service, every transaction, and every innovation.

Noha Gad

Investors often face two clear choices for growing what they have earned. The first pushes for fast gains, even if that means taking on high risks, while the second focuses only on keeping funds safer, often at the cost of meaningful growth. A more sensible path exists; one that does not require guessing market moves or avoiding all risk. This path is called a balanced investment strategy. This strategy rests on spreading funds across different types of assets, each of which has a distinct role in the financial plan. 

At its heart, a balanced strategy means acknowledging that markets move in rhythms, focusing on blending different kinds of opportunities. Some are designed to grow over time, while others provide stability when winds shift. Together, they create a portfolio that can weather storms without abandoning hope for sunshine.

What is meant by a balanced investment strategy?

A balanced investment strategy combines asset classes in a portfolio in an attempt to balance risk and return. To create a balanced investment portfolio, investors typically need to combine high-risk, high-return assets like equity stocks with more stable investment avenues, like bonds and other debt instruments. Some balanced investment portfolios may also allocate a small portion of the capital to money market instruments and cash equivalents to ensure liquidity.

The primary goal of this approach is to balance the goals of capital preservation and capital growth. To ensure capital preservation, balanced investments focus on safe and stable assets, such as government bonds, corporate bonds, and other fixed-income securities. Depending on how much risk the investor can afford to take, a balanced investment portfolio may include safer stocks like those of blue-chip companies or riskier small-cap stocks.

Benefits of balanced investment strategies

A balanced investment strategy offers several benefits to investors, including:

• Risk reduction: By spreading capital across different asset classes like stocks and bonds, a balanced investment strategy reduces the risk associated with market fluctuations.
•  Consistent returns: This strategy aims to provide more consistent returns over time. While it may not capture the highest returns in the market, it also avoids the lowest lows.
• Flexibility: A balanced investment portfolio can easily be adjusted according to changing market conditions or evolving life goals. For instance, investors adjust the portfolio to prioritize capital preservation as they approach retirement age.
• Income generation: Bonds and other fixed-income assets in a balanced investment portfolio can offer regular income to the investor. This is particularly beneficial during periods of market downturns.

How to implement a balanced investment strategy?

1. Understand your risk tolerance to get a better idea of how much risk you can tolerate.
2. Assess your financial goals to obtain clarity on the return required.
3. Choose a diverse mix of investments to meet financial goals.
4. For a passive investment approach, include index funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
5. Monitor the balanced portfolio regularly to ensure that it remains aligned with your risk-return preferences.
6. Rebalance the portfolio to maintain your preferred asset allocation.

Finally, a balanced investment strategy offers a practical and disciplined approach for investors seeking to grow their wealth without exposing themselves to unnecessary risk. By combining growth-oriented assets, such as stocks, with stable instruments like bonds and fixed-income securities, this strategy seeks to achieve a reasonable balance between capital appreciation and capital preservation. It does not rely on predicting market movements, nor does it eliminate all risk. Instead, it provides a structured framework that adapts to changing market conditions and individual financial goals. For investors at any stage of life, adopting a balanced strategy can lead to more consistent returns, reduced volatility, and greater long-term financial stability. Therefore, it represents a sound and sustainable choice for those who wish to navigate financial markets with prudence and clarity.