The General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises "Monshaat" announced today that the year 2020 witnessed the implementation of investments of a record value of 570 million riyals in Saudi start-up companies, achieving a growth rate of more than 55% compared to 2019, according to the report "Venture investment in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the year 2020." Issued by MAGNiTT, a company that specializes in venture investment data in emerging companies, and sponsored by the Saudi Venture Investment Company, which was established by Monsha'at.

The venture investment system in emerging companies in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia recorded new records despite the Coronavirus pandemic, in terms of the volume of venture investment, the number of deals, the number of venture investment funds and groups of angel investors who invested in Saudi emerging companies, as the investments were distributed among a record number of Deals in 2020 amounted to 88 deals, with a growth of more than 35% compared to last year.

The Kingdom maintained the third place among the countries of the Middle East and North Africa region in terms of the number of deals and the total value of venture investment, acquiring 15% of the total value of venture investment and 18% of the number of deals in the MENA region, but the rate of increase in the number of startup deals In the kingdom it was the largest in the region.

With these indices, the total value of venture investment in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has grown at a faster rate than the growth rate in the Middle East and North Africa region, as the growth rate in the total value of venture investment in the 17 countries of the region did not exceed 13% during the year 2020 compared to 2014. 2019, according to the report, while the rate of increase in Saudi Arabia amounted to 55%. In the context of the number of deals, the Middle East and North Africa region witnessed a decrease of 13% in 2020 compared to 2019, while the Kingdom recorded an increase of 35%.