About the Riyadh angel investor scene
Datapile tracks verified angel investors and venture capital firms based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Each profile is sourced from public records and continuously verified — explore the interactive list above to filter by industry, stage, role, or company.
Featured guide: Top Angel Investors in Saudi Arabia (2026): The Kingdom's Startup Revolution →
Ten active angel investors in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
A sample of the 2,618 investors Datapile tracks in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Verified emails and LinkedIn profiles are available in the full database.| Investor | Role | Firm | Focus |
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| Wassim Heneine | Co-founder and Managing Director | Emerging Investment Partners (EIP) | Managing DirectorTechnology |
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| Kashif Riaz | Managing Director, Financial Markets Advisory | BlackRock | Managing DirectorFintechFinancial Services |
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| Mohammed Alzubi | Founder and Managing Partner | Nama Ventures | Managing PartnerTechnologyVenture Capital & Private Equity |
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| Shane Shin | Founding Partner | Shorooq Partners | VC PartnerTechnology |
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| Graeme Ferguson | Senior Principal | Public Investment Fund (PIF) | PrincipalTechnology |
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| Ronald Maalouf | Managing Director and Senior Partner | Principal Investors and Private Equity | Boston Consulting Group (BCG) | PrincipalTechnology |
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| Mazen Aljubeir | Co-Founder and Co-Chief Investment Officer | Isometry Capital | InvestorTechnology |
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| Ibrahim Alalwan | Managing Director and partner | وثيق المالية | Watheeq Capital | VC PartnerTechnology |
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| Saed Nashef | Founding Partner | Raed Ventures | VC PartnerTechnology |
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| William Bean | Managing General Partner | Orbit Ventures | VC PartnerTechnology |
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The Riyadh, Saudi Arabia funding landscape
The largest venture market in MENA by capital deployed, built deliberately under Vision 2030. Sovereign capital anchors the market: PIF funds Sanabil, and the Saudi Venture Capital Company co-invests alongside private managers. LEAP and Biban are the introduction points, and The Garage is the primary startup hub. Home to Tamara (the Kingdom's first fintech unicorn), Foodics, Jahez, and Salla.
Raising in Riyadh: how the market actually works
Riyadh has gone from a peripheral Gulf market to the largest venture destination in MENA by capital deployed, and it happened by policy rather than by accident. Vision 2030 made startup formation a state objective, and the capital behind it is sovereign: the Public Investment Fund seeds Sanabil, Sanabil seeds funds and companies, and the Saudi Venture Capital Company co-invests alongside private managers to de-risk them. For a founder this means the marginal investor in Riyadh is often institutional and mandate-driven, and that localisation — a Saudi entity, Saudi hires, a Saudi customer base — is frequently a funding condition rather than a nice-to-have.
Active investors and funds in Riyadh
The funds and networks writing the most cheques into Riyadh-based startups, from first money in to growth rounds.
Sanabil Investments
PIF-owned; direct venture plus a large fund-of-funds programme across MENA
Saudi Venture Capital Company (SVC)
Government fund-of-funds and co-investment vehicle underwriting most local managers
STV
The largest MENA growth fund; Series B and later technology
Raed Ventures
Seed and Series A across the Gulf
Wa'ed Ventures
Aramco's venture arm; industrial tech, energy and deep tech
Impact46
Growth-stage Saudi companies, with a strong consumer and fintech book
Nama Ventures
Pre-seed first cheques for Saudi and wider MENA founders
Merak Capital
Early and growth technology out of Riyadh
Landmark Riyadh funding rounds and exits
The deals that set valuation expectations and produced the operator-angels now investing in Riyadh.
Tamara
$340M Series C at a $1B+ valuation led by SNB Capital and Sanabil — the Kingdom's first fintech unicorn, 2023
Foodics
$170M Series C led by Prosus and Sanabil, 2022
Jahez
Listed on Tadawul's Nomu parallel market, 2022 — the Kingdom's first tech listing
Rasan
Main-market Tadawul IPO, oversubscribed many times over, 2024
Salla
$130M pre-IPO round led by Investcorp and Sanabil, 2024
What gets funded in Riyadh
Fintech and BNPL
SAMA's sandbox licensed buy-now-pay-later and payments players early, and a young, card-light population adopted them faster than anywhere else in the Gulf.
Gaming and esports
Savvy Games Group's state-backed mandate made Riyadh a buyer of studios, not just a market for them.
E-commerce enablement and logistics
Domestic retail digitised in a decade, so the storefront, payment and last-mile layers all had to be built locally.
Industrial and energy tech
Aramco's venture arm and NEOM procurement give hardware and energy startups a first customer, which is rare at seed stage.
Angel networks, accelerators and events in Riyadh
Riyadh's funding calendar is unusually concentrated: LEAP in February and the Biban forum are where a large share of the year's introductions happen, and turning up matters more here than in most markets. Monsha'at, the national SME authority, runs accelerators and grant programmes that double as an investor-introduction channel, and The Garage in Riyadh is the physical hub most local funds source from. Apply to SVC-backed managers rather than approaching SVC directly — it invests through funds, not into companies. Expect diligence on Saudisation, local entity structure and regional expansion plans earlier than you would elsewhere.
Frequently asked questions about raising in Riyadh
How do I contact angel investors in Riyadh?
Riyadh's angel layer is smaller and more relationship-driven than its institutional layer, so targeting matters more than volume. Use Datapile to identify individuals and fund partners actively investing in Saudi companies, then reach out with a clear statement of your local footprint — entity, team, customers. Warm introductions through Monsha'at programmes, The Garage, or a portfolio founder at Raed, Nama or Impact46 convert best. Cold email works when it is specific and in the right register; a generic deck blast does not.
Do I need a Saudi entity to raise in Riyadh?
For most local capital, yes. Sovereign-linked investors and the funds they back typically require a Saudi entity, and several programmes make local incorporation and hiring an explicit condition. Founders commonly set up through MISA (the Ministry of Investment) before opening a round.
What stage do Riyadh investors fund most?
The market is deepest at seed and Series A, where SVC's co-investment mandate crowds in private managers. Pre-seed is thinner and dominated by a handful of specialists such as Nama Ventures, while growth capital is concentrated in STV, Sanabil and the regional sovereign vehicles.
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