VC fund 500 Global hunts for Saudi Arabia’s next tech unicorn

VC fund 500 Global hunts for Saudi Arabia’s next tech unicorn

RIYADH: Venture capital fund 500 Global has brought its prolific funding pace to Saudi Arabia and is looking for the next tech unicorn — a startup valued at over $1 billion.

The San Francisco-based firm, co-founded by CEO Christine Tsai, has cast its net wide, funding more than 2,600 startups in at least 75 countries since it was founded in 2010.

It has $2.3 billion in assets under management, and its portfolio includes stakes in 41 firms valued at more than $1 billion and 125 firms worth more than $100 million.

Its unicorns include US credit broker Credit Karma, Australian online design platform Canva and Singaporean food delivery payments and ride-hailing app Grab.

In the Kingdom, it has backed young firms such as shipping solutions provider Nitros, sports management company TeamUp and female professional network Playbook. Tsai founded the firm 12 years ago with partner Dave McClure as 500 Startups, before changing its name to 500 Global last year. Both had worked as marketing executives at tech giants such as Google, YouTube and Microsoft. McClure eventually left the business in 2017.

In an interview with Arab News, Tsai said their background was an advantage when they began to raise capital for the business because they