Saudi Venture Capital Company is the investor in the initiative.

Saudi Venture Capital Company (SVC) has partnered with the Capital Market Authority (CMA) and the Financial Sector Development Program to launch a new investment program called “Investment in Fintech VC Funds”. The program aims to stimulate the establishment of venture capital funds in the financial technology (FinTech) sector. Around SR300 million ($80 million) has been earmarked from SVC’s investment portfolio for this new initiative, which was launched at the Financial Sector Conference 2023 in Riyadh. (ZAWYA)

SVC was established in 2018 as a government investment company and is a subsidiary of SME Bank, one of the development banks affiliated with the National Development Fund. Its goal is to stimulate and sustain financing for startups and small and medium-sized enterprises from pre-Seed to pre-IPO stages by investing $1.6 billion in funds and co-investing in startups. SVC has invested in 35 funds that have invested in 525 companies through 904 deals.

The FinTech sector in Saudi Arabia has experienced steady growth in recent years, becoming the most funded sector in 2022 in terms of the number of deals and amount of VC funding.

This growth was propelled by the launch of governmental initiatives, such as the “Saudi FinTech” initiative launched by the Saudi Central Bank in partnership with the CMA, and the incorporation of the Kingdom’s FinTech strategy as a new pillar into the Saudi Vision 2030 Financial Sector Development Program (FSDP).

The latter aims to help the Kingdom become one of the leading countries in the FinTech field.

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