Skip to content Skip to Search
Skip navigation

Facebook’s Meta signs partnership to support Saudi tech startups

By Shane McGinley
Facebook-owner Meta has partnered with the region's largest venture capital fund to support Sausi startups

Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, has announced a new partnership with Riyadh-based STV (Saudi Technology Ventures), the Middle East’s largest venture capital fund, to support the growth of technology startups in the kingdom.

Founded in 2018 by Abdulrahman Tarabzouni, STV has capital of over $500 million and it’s portfolio of investments includes regional household names such as ride-hailing app Careem, buy-now-pay-later provider Tabby, restaurant management platform Foodics and ‘the Uber of trucks’ Trukker.

As part of the partnership, Meta will use its existing platforms, including Facebook and Instagram, to help Saudi startups market and grow their businesses.

“As a priority market for Meta, we’re keen on growing the wider tech ecosystem in the country by building important capabilities and skills for business communities through our marketing and platform solutions. Through this new partnership with STV, we are fully committed to furthering our investment in Saudi Arabia and the MENA tech ecosystem by building technical capabilities for SMB [small and medium business] owners, upskilling entrepreneurs, and supporting marketers and developers,” Fares Akkad, Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Meta, was quoted as saying in a press release.

The partnership is part of the Saudi government’s wider drive to support small businesses in the kingdom and stimulate an environment of entrepreneurship. Data compiled by Wamda, the largest early-stage investment fund in the Middle East, found that Saudi Arabia was currently enjoying triple digit growth in investment into startups.

“Saudi Arabia’s pace of growth when it comes to its startup ecosystem has been astonishing. From January to April this year, startups in the country have raised over $500 million, that’s a growth rate of 145 percent compared to the same period last year,” Triska Hamid, editorial director at Wamda, told AGBI.

“Investors in Saudi have also become the region’s most active and will likely remain this way until they begin to feel the effects of the crashes in the global markets,” she added.

Latest articles

Flavio Cattaneo of Enel, of which Endesa is a subsidiary, and Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi at the signing of the deal

Masdar buys stake in Spanish utilities company Endesa

The UAE’s state-owned clean energy company Masdar has agreed to acquire a minority stake in Spanish electric utility business Endesa to partner for 2.5 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy assets in Spain. Under the agreement, subject to regulatory approval, Masdar will invest nearly $890 million to acquire a 49.99 percent stake in Endesa, with an […]

UAE markets Hong Kong

UAE capital markets partner with Hong Kong exchange

The Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKSE) has added the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) and the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) to its roster of recognised marketplaces. The move opens the door for UAE-based companies to pursue secondary listings on one of Asia’s premier financial markets. It also follows the inclusion of the Saudi Exchange (Tadawul) […]

Person, Worker, Adult

Aramco and PIF invest in Saudi-Chinese steel venture

Saudi Aramco and the Public Investment Fund have doubled their investment in a steel plate joint venture with a Chinese company to $500 million. The two Saudi companies each own 25 percent shares in the new venture in Ras Al Khair industrial city, Bloomberg reported, quoting a statement published on the Chinese stock exchange. Chinese […]

Car, Transportation, Vehicle

Dubai Taxi to pay $43m dividend despite profit drop

Dubai Taxi Company, a subsidiary of the emirate’s transport regulator, has approved a dividend payout of AED159 million ($43 million) for the first half of 2024 despite a marginal 1 percent increase in net profit. Net earnings reached AED187.4 million in the first six months of the year, compared to AED186.3 million at the same […]