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Saudi Arabia Tops MENA Venture Capital Rankings for 2023

King Abdullah Financial Center in the capital, Riyadh (SPA)
King Abdullah Financial Center in the capital, Riyadh (SPA)
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Saudi Arabia Tops MENA Venture Capital Rankings for 2023

King Abdullah Financial Center in the capital, Riyadh (SPA)
King Abdullah Financial Center in the capital, Riyadh (SPA)

Saudi Arabia achieved first rank across MENA for the first time regarding the amount of Venture Capital (VC) funding in 2023, according to MAGNiTT, the MENA-based venture data platform.
The data confirmed that the Kingdom captured the highest share of total VC funding in the MENA region in 2023, accounting for 52% of the total capital deployed, up from 31% in 2022.
The funding deployed to Saudi Arabian startups grew by 33% in 2023 compared to 2022, confirming the attractiveness of the Saudi market, enhancing its competitive environment, and consolidating the strength of its economy as the largest in the MENA region.
CEO and Board Member at Saudi Venture Capital (SVC) Nabeel Koshak stated that the Kingdom's ascent in the regional VC landscape directly results from various government initiatives aimed at energizing the VC and startup ecosystem, part of Vision 2030 programs.
Koshak explained that the rise is further supported by enhancing the legislative and regulatory environment for the ecosystem, coupled with the emergence of dynamic investors from the private sector and innovative entrepreneurs.
He added that SVC plays a strategic role in advancing the VC ecosystem in the Kingdom, which has risen from being ranked fourth in the region for VC funding in 2018 to the top position in 2023.
The investment in Saudi startups has grown 21-fold in 2023 compared to 2018, the year SVC was established.
At SVC, "we remain committed to spearheading the evolution of the VC ecosystem in Saudi Arabia by encouraging private investors to support startups and SMEs, facilitating rapid and substantial growth," said Koshak.
He noted that the approach is integral to diversifying the national economy and realizing the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030.
SVC, established in 2018, is an investment company and an SME Bank subsidiary affiliated with the National Development Fund.
SVC's mission is to foster and sustain financing for startups and SMEs, from pre-seed to pre-IPO stages, through investments in funds and co-investment in startups and SMEs.

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US Treasury Targets Russia's Gazprombank with New Sanctions

FILE PHOTO: A bronze seal for the Department of the Treasury is shown at the US Treasury building in Washington, US, January 20, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A bronze seal for the Department of the Treasury is shown at the US Treasury building in Washington, US, January 20, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
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US Treasury Targets Russia's Gazprombank with New Sanctions

FILE PHOTO: A bronze seal for the Department of the Treasury is shown at the US Treasury building in Washington, US, January 20, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A bronze seal for the Department of the Treasury is shown at the US Treasury building in Washington, US, January 20, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo

The United States imposed new sanctions on Russia's Gazprombank on Thursday, the Treasury Department said, as President Joe Biden steps up actions to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine before he leaves office in January.
The move, which wields the department's most powerful sanctions tool, effectively kicks Gazprombank out of the US banking system, bans its trade with Americans and freezes its US assets, Reuters reported.
Gazprombank is one of Russia's largest banks and is partially owned by Kremlin-owned gas company Gazprom. Since Russia's invasion in February 2022, Ukraine has been urging the US to impose more sanctions on the bank, which receives payments for natural gas from Gazprom's customers in Europe.
The fresh sanctions come days after the Biden administration allowed Kyiv to use US ATACMS missiles to strike Russian territory. On Tuesday, Ukraine fired the weapons, the longest range missiles Washington has supplied for such attacks on Russia, on the war's 1,000th day.
The Treasury also imposed sanctions on 50 small-to-medium Russian banks to curtail the country's connections to the international financial system and prevent it from abusing it to pay for technology and equipment needed for the war. It warned that foreign financial institutions that maintain correspondent relationships with the targeted banks "entails significant sanctions risk."
"This sweeping action will make it harder for the Kremlin to evade US sanctions and fund and equip its military," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said. "We will continue to take decisive steps against any financial channels Russia uses to support its illegal and unprovoked war in Ukraine."
Gazprombank said Washington's latest move would not affect its operations. The Russian embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment.
Along with the sanctions, Treasury also issued two new general licenses authorizing US entities to wind down transactions involving Gazprombank, among other financial institutions, and to take steps to divest from debt or equity issued by Gazprombank.
Gazprombank is a conduit for Russia to purchase military materiel in its war against Ukraine, the Treasury said. The Russian government also uses the bank to pay its soldiers, including for combat bonuses, and to compensate the families of its soldiers killed in the war.
The administration believes the new sanctions improve Ukraine's position on the battlefield and ability to achieve a just peace, a source familiar with the matter said.
COLLATERAL IMPACT
While Gazprombank has been on the administration's radar for years, it has been seen as a last resort because of its focus on energy and the desire to avoid collateral impact on Europe, a Washington-based trade lawyer said.
"I think that the current administration is trying to put as much pressure and add as many sanctions as possible prior to January 20th to make it harder for the next administration to unwind," said the lawyer, Douglas Jacobson.
Officials in Slovakia and Hungary said they were studying the impacts of the new US sanctions.
Trump would have the power to remove the sanctions, which were imposed under an executive order by Biden, if he wants to take a different stance, Jacobson said.
After Russia's invasion in 2022, the Treasury placed debt and equity restrictions on 13 Russian firms, including Gazprombank, Sberbank and the Russian Agricultural Bank.
The US Treasury has also worked to provide Ukraine with funds from windfall proceeds of frozen Russian assets.