Wa'ed Ventures (Saudi Aramco Entrepreneurship Ventures)

Wa'ed Ventures is the $500 million corporate venture capital arm of Saudi Aramco, headquartered in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, with additional team presence in the United States. The vehicle traces its origins to the Saudi Aramco Entrepreneurship Center (Wa'ed) established in 2011 to support domestic entrepreneurs; in 2013 Aramco launched a $200 million fund to channel capital into local tech startups, and in 2023 the vehicle formally rebranded as Wa'ed Ventures to reflect its evolution into an institutional corporate fund. Managing Director Fahad Alidi and Chief Investment Officer Muhammed Zeeshan Hassan lead a 38-person team including 5 Partners and 15 Principals. Wa'ed's mandate is two-pronged: backing Saudi-based tech startups to accelerate Kingdom ecosystem development, and investing in global frontier-tech companies that commit to localising key operations in Saudi Arabia. Maximum deal size is $20 million per investment, and the firm leads rounds across seed through later stages. In 2025 Wa'ed dedicated $100 million specifically to early-stage AI startups and appointed an AI advisory board. Sector coverage spans AI, IoT and hardware, energy and industrial applications, fintech, healthtech, agtech, edtech, drones, cloud, and advanced manufacturing. Across 93 disclosed investments, portfolio companies include Rebellions (AI chips, $15 million Series B extension), Mighty Buildings, Red Sea Farms, and Ori. Notable exits include Terra Drone Corp (IPO on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in November 2024 at approximately $128 million market cap) and Alteia (acquired by GE Vernova in July 2025). The fund's strategic value to portfolio companies extends beyond capital: Aramco's global network across energy, industrial, and sovereign sectors provides portfolio companies with procurement pathways, co-development opportunities, and market entry into the broader MENA region that few other corporate venture investors can match.