Saudi: SVC invests $30mln in Bedaya Fund II

Saudi: SVC invests $30mln in Bedaya Fund II

Riyadh: Saudi Venture Capital (SVC) announced its investment of $30 million in Bedaya Fund II, which is managed by Shorooq Partners. The fund will mainly back early-stage startups with a focus on several sectors.

The subscription agreement was signed by Dr. Nabeel Koshak, CEO and Board Member at SVC, and Mahmoud Adi, Founding Partner at Shorooq Partners. The signing ceremony was attended by Yousef Al-Benyan, the Chairman of the SME Bank and Abdulrahman Mansour, acting CEO of the SME Bank.

Dr. Koshak commented: “The investment in Bedaya Fund II by Shorooq Partners is part of SVC’s Investment in Funds Program to support the growth of the VC ecosystem in Saudi Arabia for all stages and to fill financing gaps for early stages. SVC’s expansion in investing in early-stage funds comes as a result of the recent support from the SME Bank to increase the investment capital of SVC, leading to a total investment capital of $1.6 billion.”

Mahmoud Adi added: "We are privileged to have SVC as a strategic investor to Bedaya Fund II, again after our partnership in the prior fund (Bedaya Fund I). This commitment highlights the increasing confidence in Saudi Arabia's thriving startup ecosystem. With our persistent focus in Saudi