Riyadh – Sharikat Mubasher: Saudi Arabia secured its first-place rank in terms of Venture Capital (VC) funding for 2024.
The 2024 Emerging Markets Venture Capital Report issued by the venture data platform MAGNiTT revealed that the total VC deployment in Saudi Arabia reached $750 million (SAR 2.8 billion), underscoring the Kingdom’s ongoing economic development in line with Saudi Vision 2030 and its efforts to bolster the national economy.
As outlined in the report, Saudi Arabia captured the largest share of VC funding in the MENA region, representing 40% of the total capital deployed.
The report further revealed a record-breaking 178 VC deals in the Kingdom during 2024, highlighting Saudi Arabia's increasing market appeal, competitive environment, and robust economic position as the largest economy in MENA.
Nabeel Koshak, CEO and Board Member at SVC commented: “The Kingdom's leading position in the VC scene in the region comes as a result of the many governmental initiatives launched to stimulate the VC and startups ecosystem within the Saudi Vision 2030 programs, and the development of the legislative and regulatory environment for the ecosystem, in addition to the emergence of active investors from the private sector as well as innovative entrepreneurs. We are proud that SVC's strategy contributed to the development of the VC ecosystem in the Kingdom. We at SVC are committed to continuing to lead the development of the ecosystem by stimulating private investors to provide support for startups and SMEs to be capable of fast and high growth, leading to diversifying the national economy and achieving the goals of the Saudi Vision 2030.”
Established in 2018, SVC (Saudi Venture Capital) is a subsidiary of the SME Bank, part of the National Development Fund (NDF). SVC’s primary mission is to drive sustainable financing for startups and SMEs, ranging from pre-seed to pre-IPO stages. This is achieved through investments in funds and direct investments into startups and SMEs, fostering growth and innovation across the Kingdom.