محمد يحي
- Saudi Awwal Bank announces investment in partnership with STV Saudi Arabia to launch the Emerging Tech & AI Fund supporting artificial intelligence technologies
- The investment comes as part of a series of new commitments secured by the fund since its launch, including backing from semi-sovereign entities, endowments, and institutional investors across the region, in addition to early support from Google.
STV, the largest independent venture capital firm in the Middle East, has announced a new investment from Saudi Awwal Bank (SAB) into its Emerging Tech & AI Fund, which focuses on artificial intelligence and emerging technologies.
The commitment adds to a growing pool of capital raised since the fund’s launch, including investments from semi-sovereign entities, endowments, and institutional investors across the region, alongside early backing from Google.
The move further strengthens the strategic partnership between STV and SAB, with the bank joining the fund as an investor.
Saeed Assri, Chief Innovation Officer at SAB, said AI is a strategic driver for productivity, risk management, and customer experience enhancement, highlighting the bank’s commitment to supporting the next generation of AI-native companies in the region.
Osama Alowedi, Chief Investment Officer at SAB Invest, noted that the rapid pace of AI transformation leaves no room for hesitation, emphasizing the importance of partnering with STV to enable investors to actively participate in this shift.
Ahmad AlNaimi, General Partner at STV, said SAB’s continued support reflects growing confidence in application-layer AI as a key engine of economic growth in the Middle East and North Africa.
Since its launch, the fund has invested in four AI-native startups, including Sawt, Clarity, Signit, and Stream, spanning customer service AI, analytics, legal tech, and payments infrastructure.
The report also highlighted the strong global momentum of AI applications, with enterprise spending surpassing $19 billion in 2025, and AI-native startups increasingly outperforming incumbents in both revenue growth and time-to-scale.
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