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Saudi Wa’ed Ventures Leads $14 Mln Bridge Round for Japanese Terra Drone

A drone of the Terra Drone. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
A drone of the Terra Drone. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Wa’ed Ventures Leads $14 Mln Bridge Round for Japanese Terra Drone

A drone of the Terra Drone. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
A drone of the Terra Drone. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Terra Drone, the Japan-based leading drone service provider, has announced closing a $14 million bridge round led by Wa’ed Ventures, the Kingdom-focused venture capital arm of Aramco.

Through this investment, Terra Drone plans to open a new subsidiary in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to localize its drone services as well as to continue to serve the global autonomous vehicles market expected to grow to $1.5 trillion by 2040, as projected by Morgan Stanley.

Terra Drone has been in business since 2016, with a mission to evolve the world from the sky, said Toru Tokushige, founder and CEO of Terra Drone Corporation.

“Six years later, we are now approaching a future where drones and aerial vehicles will no longer be a novelty,” he said.

“We have built up a solid track record both domestically and internationally up to the point that Terra Drone has grown to be recognized as the top drone service provider in the world. Saudi Aramco's investment in Terra Drone through its VC arm Wa’ed Ventures is another example of the global recognition for our achievements, which raises the expectations for our team as we continue to push forward and lead Terra Drone to the forefront of the global innovation track,” added Tokushige.

Fahad Alidi, Managing Director at Wa’ed Ventures, said: “Our investment represents our commitment towards building the UAM ecosystem in the Kingdom, one that circles around a sustainable economy."

“Terra Drone is well-positioned to localize their innovation across the region, starting with the Kingdom,” added Alidi.

Wa’ed Ventures’ investment comes as additional support to the $83 million already raised in previous funding rounds by Terra Drone.

Earlier rounds included participation from Mitsui & Co. Ltd, SBI Investment Co. Ltd, Tokyu Land Corporation, and Seika Corporations; some of the largest institutional investors in the Asian market.

The startup has served more than 10 countries worldwide since its founding, providing drone hardware and cloud-based software in over 1,000 projects, with an aim to create a “drone and air mobility-based society”.

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Report: Syrian Officials Plan to Attend IMF, World Bank Meetings in Washington

A view of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo at its headquarters in Washington, DC, US, November 24, 2024. (Reuters)
A view of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo at its headquarters in Washington, DC, US, November 24, 2024. (Reuters)
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Report: Syrian Officials Plan to Attend IMF, World Bank Meetings in Washington

A view of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo at its headquarters in Washington, DC, US, November 24, 2024. (Reuters)
A view of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo at its headquarters in Washington, DC, US, November 24, 2024. (Reuters)

Syria's finance minister, foreign minister and central bank chief are planning to attend the annual spring meetings held by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington, DC this month, four sources familiar with the plans said.

It would be the first visit to the meetings by a high-level Syrian government delegation in at least two decades, and the first high-level visit by Syria's new authorities to the US since former President Bashar al-Assad was toppled in December.

Two of the sources told Reuters it was unclear whether Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, Finance Minister Mohammed Yosr Bernieh and Central Bank Governor Abdelkader Husrieh had yet received visas to the United States.

Spokespeople for the IMF, World Bank, Syrian foreign ministry and Syrian presidency did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The other two sources said a high-level meeting focused on reconstruction efforts for Syria could be held on the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank meetings.

Syria has been ravaged by nearly 14 years of a war that was sparked by a deadly crackdown on protests against Assad, with much of the country's infrastructure left in ruins.

The government that took over after Assad was ousted has sought to rebuild Syria's ties in the region and further afield, and to win support for reconstruction efforts.

But tough US sanctions imposed during Assad's rule remain in place. In January, the US issued a six-month exemption for some sanctions to encourage humanitarian aid, but this has had limited effect. Reuters reported in February that efforts to bring in foreign financing to pay public sector salaries had been hampered by uncertainty over whether this could breach US sanctions.

Last month the US gave Syria a list of conditions to fulfill in exchange for partial sanctions relief but the administration of US President Donald Trump has otherwise engaged little with the country's new rulers.

That is in part due to differing views in Washington on how to approach Syria. Some White House officials have been keen to take a more hardline stance, pointing to the new Syrian leadership's former ties to Al-Qaeda as reason to keep engagement to a minimum, according to diplomats and US sources.