King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) has doubled down on its university venturing fund, upgrading its seed fund to an innovation fund with a larger remit to invest.
The KAUST Innovation Fund will be investing in spin-outs emanating from KAUST as well as tech companies willing to relocate to Saudi Arabia.
The fund is one of a small handful in the country which operates in the seed-to-early stage area, and will be typically looking to make investments of between $200,000 and $2m. Alongside investments and managing its current portfolio of 15 startups, the fund will be taking a more hands-on approach by providing strategic and operational support to future portfolio firms.
The university has not announced how much it has secured overall for the fund, nor has it revealed whether KAUST is the sole backer, or if there are other limited partners.
Nicola Bettio, the fund’s manager, said: “This approach is quite novel in academic institutions and is the first of its kind in Saudi Arabia. We need to support the growth of our startups beyond simple seed funding, encourage international technology-based early stage companies to move to Saudi Arabia and attract local investors and international venture capitalists to the Kingdom’s relatively young innovation ecosystem.”
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