2022 brought Saudi Arabia new Yearly, Half-Yearly, and Quarterly record funding driven by Mega Rounds. We map the evolution of KSA's VC ecosystem over the years and the impact of the current economic pressures in our 2022 Saudi Arabia Venture Capital Report, with the support of the Saudi Venture Capital (SVC).
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Saudi Arabia was one of the emerging markets that recorded YoY growth in 2022 nearing the $1Bn mark. The VC ecosystem surpassed FY 2021’s numbers by 72% aggregating $987M in funding across 144 deals, reporting a 3% decline in terms of total transactions. For a deeper insight on the Saudi Arabia VC ecosystem, get access to our FY2022 Saudi Arabia Venture Investment Report.
The Kingdom also saw the most Mega Rounds in one year for a MENA-based geography. Saudi Arabia recorded 3 Mega Deals, $170M Series C By Foodics, $100M Series B by FinTech Tamara, and $100M Series C by TruKKer, and captured 37% of the total funding seen over 2022. Moreover, the record first quarter drove 32% of the total funding which was a continuation of the funding highs we saw in 2021. Following Q1, the Kingdom saw quarterly declines both in terms of funding and deals in line with the global economic growth slowdowns, a trend that was observed across the MENA region.
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Saudi Arabia also elevated the funding levels of MENA, accounting for 31% of the total capital deployed in the region. If we look at the country breakdown, the Kingdom managed to reduce the funding gap with the UAE to $200M, a number which stood closer to $1Bn the year before. The deal gap between the two also retreated to nine as opposed to 23 in 2021. To its credit, Saudi Arabia is also the only geography out of the top three markets which recorded significant YoY growth, while the top geography, UAE, saw a decline in funding compared to 2021. In terms of industry breakdown, the Saudi VC ecosystem mirrored its peer MENA markets and saw most of the capital being deployed in FinTech which captured 24% of the total funding.
The record funding seen over 2022 and the efforts made by the Kingdom, in line with its Saudi 2030 Vision to grow the tech and digital landscapes of the region, have culminated in marking the year as the 5th consecutive year of increase in the number of investors scouting the region. The Kingdom saw investments from a record 104 investors, up by 30% when compared to 2021. Investor breakdown using our proprietary analytics tool revealed that Saudi-based investors continue to dominate the scene accounting for almost 60% of the total investors. Participation from Corporate VCs saw a slight decline in 2022 while international investor interest has remained consistent since 2020. Over the past years, names like 500 Global have set up shop in the Middle East followed by Sequoia Capital’s debut investment in Saudi FinTech Lean Technologies in 2022.
What’s In The Report?
This bi-annual report provides a comprehensive overview and a deep dive into the Saudi venture capital and funding investment space and includes the following:
• A 5-year analysis of Saudi Arabia's venture funding evolution
• MENA country comparison by funding and deals
• Industry comparison by funding and deals
• Active investors by number of investments
• Top 5 startup funding rounds of 2022
• A 5-year exit evolution
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About SVC:
Saudi Venture Capital (SVC) is a Government VC ($1.5 billion AUM) established in 2018 for the primary goal of stimulating and sustaining financing for startups and SMEs from pre-seed to pre-IPO through the investment in funds and co-investment in startups. Since inception, SVC has backed 31 funds and 5 angel investor groups that invested in 525 startups and SMEs.