Saudi Arabia venture investor considers second $500m fund

STV, the venture capital investor that backed a Dubai ride-hailing firm before its sale to Uber Technologies, is considering raising a second fund of at least $500m.

“I definitely see a path to a second fund that is equal or larger to the $500m fund we have today,” said CEO Abdulrahman Tarabzouni.

Interest in Middle East technology startups has been rising. Uber bought Careem Networks in March for $3.1bn, while Amazon.com purchased Dubai-based online retailer Souq.com in 2017. STV expects venture capital investments in Saudi Arabia alone to grow tenfold by 2025, according to a report Wednesday.

STV started operations in 2017 with funding from Saudi Telecom, and ex-Google executive Tarabzouni left Silicon Valley to run it. It has already backed companies including e-commerce firm Mrsool and education app Noon Academy.