Riyadh – Mubasher: Startups in Saudi Arabia have successfully attracted sizable loans, amid the boom in financing solutions seen across the GCC as a whole.

Loans mainly came from peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platforms, incubators, accelerators, venture capital companies, and angel investors, Nawaf Al Sahhaf, CEO of the Badir Program for Technology Incubators, told Saudi Gazette in an interview.

Saudi startups attracted massive investments last year, Al Sahhaf revealed, noting that as startups incubated under the Badir programme successfully obtained $13 million in investments during the first nine months of 2017.

Mainly led by Saudi finance companies, startups were supported by both regional and Gulf investment, he added.

“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has seen a boom in tech startup and investor activity over the last year,” Al Sahhaf highlighted.

Badir announced plans to inject more than SAR 500 million into Saudi startups in the first quarter of 2019 as a part of its efforts to support these firms in achieving further developments, in exchange for a share of equity.
“Overall, the startup funding market in KSA is changing rapidly and expected to grow remarkably well, with various investors and steadily growing experience,” the top official added.

Responding to a question on the number of Saudi startups registered on the MAGNiTT platform, Badir’s CEO revealed that this number has reached 252, forecasting that this figure will increase in 2018.