Tech

Saudi Aramco leads $30m investment in tech startup

January 7, 2025, 4:19 PM

Startup Zension says smartphones have at least a seven-year lifespan but on average are used for just three

Wa’ed and Sumitomo fund Zension
Device subscription service
Launching in Saudi and UAE

Wa’ed Ventures, the $500 million venture capital fund owned by Saudi Aramco, and Japanese conglomerate Sumitomo have invested in Zension Technologies, a consumer electronics startup.

Wa’ed led the funding raise of $30 million, which also included Dubai-based Global Ventures.

Based in Riyadh, Zension provides consumers with access to the latest tech devices. Instead of purchasing devices outright, customers can subscribe to use them for a monthly fee, with options to upgrade, switch brands or return devices as needed.

Some of its clients include Saudi Arabia’s largest retailer Jarir Bookstore and Saudi telco STC.

With the new funding, Zension will launch a tech subscription platform called Zaam in the UAE and Saudi Arabia in the first quarter.

Zaam offers a subscription model for consumer tech through telco providers, such as Virgin Mobile, which allows customers to upgrade to a newer model while their old device is repaired and resold.

Zension said it has gathered five years’ worth of data and analytics on when people are most likely to upgrade, which models they are likely to buy and which models are most likely to need repairs.

Khalid Saiduddin, co-founder and CEO of Zension Technologies, said the startup helps extend the lifespan of smartphones and reduce waste in the region where mobile phone use is among the highest globally.

“Smartphones have at least a seven-year lifespan but on average are used for just three – and with more than five billion phones being thrown away every year, that’s a big problem to fix,” Saiduddin said.

“With this new funding, we are elevating our business into a place where we can touch everyday consumers and dramatically shift their way of purchasing and owning their tech devices.”

Sumitomo’s investment is the first in the GCC for the 100-year-old Japanese global group.

The VC market across the Middle East and North Africa raised $1.3 billion from January to September 2024, according to startup analyst Magnitt.

Saudi Arabia secured 39 percent of Mena’s total funding, which was down 13 percent on the same period last year.