The fund would specialize in new technologies across the Middle East.

A Saudi Arabian venture capital firm is looking to raise money for a second $500 million fund. STV, which backed Careem Networks, is exploring options for its second fund.  Careem Networks is a Dubai ride-hailing firm that sold to Uber for $3.1 billion. That deal could spur significant interest from institutional investors seeking aggressive growth.

“I definitely see a path to a second fund that is equal or larger to the $500 million fund we have today,” STV CEO Abdulrahman Tarabzouni told Bloomberg.

Saudi Arabian Venture Capital to Grow

Earlier this week, STV set an aggressive target on VC capital in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East. The VC fund projected a 1000% jump in venture capital across the region by 2025. STV CEO Abdulrahman Tarabzouni is a former executive at Google who departed the Silicon Valley giant in 2017 to launch his firm.

Now, let’s turn to other fund launches and updates for October 16, 2019

Permira Launches $12 Billion Fund

First up, private equity firm Permira announced it had closed its latest fund. Reuters reported that the PE shop raised 11 billion euros ($12.13 billion) for its seventh buy-out fund. The company had started raising capital in early 2019. Furthermore, the private equity fund will invest in the technology, consumer, financial services, healthcare, and industrial technology sectors.

Whitehorse Closes Third Fund at $2 Billion

Next, Whitehorse Liquidity Partners announced it closed its third fund. The Toronto-based group set a hard cap on the fund at $2 billion. It also lists its investors as public and corporate pension plans, family offices, insurance firms, and individual investors. Meanwhile, this is another successful launch for the private equity firm. Last year, the company closed its second fund at $1 billion.

Veritas Capital Tops Previous Target with Fund VII

Finally, Veritas Capital has closed its seventh fund. The Veritas Capital Fund VII reached $6.5 billion in capital commitments. That topped its target of $5 billion and easily beat the $3.5 billion raised in 2017 for its sixth fund. The firm also focuses on technologies that offer products and services to government and commercial customers.

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