Saudi Arabia Announces US$6.4 bn for Technology and Startup
The investments and initiatives include the launch of Aramco Venture’s Prosperity7 fund with US$1 billion, and a billion dollar investment from NEOM Tech & Digital Company.
Saudi Arabia has announced a plan to invest more than US$6.4 billion in investments in future technologies and entrepreneurship that will further secure the Kingdom’s position as the MENA region’s largest digital economy.
The announcements were made during the opening day of LEAP, the international technology platform.
The investments and initiatives include the launch of Aramco Venture’s Prosperity7 fund with US$1 billion, and a billion dollar investment from NEOM Tech & Digital Company with a focus on future technologies.
As part of its investment, NEOM announced the launch of the world’s first cognitive metaverse, XVRS that will serve residents and visitors of the smart giga-project, and M3LD, a personal data management platform that gives back control of data to the user.
stc announced MENA HUB, a US$1 billion investment in regional connectivity and infrastructure, which will support Saudi Arabia’s rapidly expanding digital and cloud sector.
LEAP also saw the launch of The Garage, a new platform for start-ups, investment and entrepreneurship by King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST). The Garage will create a full-service environment for local and international start-ups, to help them grow to become the leading technology companies of the future.
J&T Express Group, one of the world’s fastest-growing logistics companies, announced an investment of US$2 billion with eWTP Arabia Capital and other partners. The investment will see J&T establish its MENA headquarters in Riyadh, and set up an extensive network of smart logistics and distribution facilities that will extend Saudi Arabia’s reach as the regional center for advanced logistics.
Saudi Arabia is the largest technology market in the MENA region, with a technology sector worth more than US$40 billion. The new investments announced at LEAP22 are part of the Kingdom’s ongoing plans to transform into an innovation-based economy, which have already seen the country become one of the fastest-growing new markets for Fintech and digital content in the region.
“These investments and initiatives are a manifestation of the Kingdom’s push toward the growth of the digital economy for the greater good of people, the planet and the prosperity of the MENA region. They mark the next level of growth for the digital economy in Saudi Arabia, the MENA region’s largest technology and digital market,” said H.E. Eng. Abdullah Alswaha, Saudi Minister of Communications and Information Technology.
During his keynote address at LEAP22, the Minister noted that Saudi Arabia is the regional leader for technology talent, with over 318,000 jobs in the technology sector in the Kingdom, and with a rate of participation of women in the ICT workforce that has jumped to 28% in recent years.
Saudi Arabia is also home to some of the largest investments in cloud technology, with leading hyperscale cloud providers including Google, Alibaba, Oracle and SAP investing over US$2.5 billion in cloud in the Kingdom. Entrepreneurship is also flourishing in Saudi Arabia, with venture capital investment in Saudi Arabia in 2021 exceeding the total for 2019 and 2020 combined.
ARAMCO VENTURES PROSPERITY7
Aramco Ventures, the venture capital arm of Saudi Aramco, announced the formal launch of its US$1 billion diversified growth fund, Prosperity7. The fund backs exceptional entrepreneurs to build transformative companies and solve some of the world’s toughest problems. Prosperity7 provides its portfolio companies with the funding and connections they need to scale and enter new markets to attain global reach.
Amin Nasser, President and CEO of Saudi Aramco, said: “Prosperity7 will connect the dots through big ideas, top talents and disruptive technologies from around the world as we look beyond the energy value chain to areas like healthcare, education and blockchain, for viable solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges.”
STC MENA HUB AND HUAWEI PARTNER FOR TECHNOLOGY MANUFACTURING
stc announced the MENA HUB initiative to establish a standalone company of US$1 billion investment in infrastructure of submarine cables and data centers, that will boost Saudi Arabia’s current position as the region’s digital hub. Leveraging Saudi Arabia’s geographical location at the heart of the MENA region, the company will manage and continue to invest in submarine cables including new ones landing in multiple points of Saudi Arabia.
The company will manage data centers and continue to invest in new data centers across the Kingdom and the region, along with other digital infrastructure to attract foreign direct investment. It will also localize content and develop cloud services to realize Saudi Arabia’s digitization plans.
stc revealed a new strategic partnership with Huawei Technologies Company, which will see manufacturing facilities for data center equipment and hardware established in Saudi Arabia, to boost Saudi Arabia’s capacity in high-tech industry, create local supply chains for technology hardware and increase the adoption of new technologies by Saudi businesses, which will significantly support the increase in local content and contribute to the achievement of the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030.
