Saudi VC STV Launches $100m AI Fund With Google as Anchor Backer

STV, one of the largest venture capital firms in the Middle East, has launched a $100 million fund dedicated to artificial-intelligence startups across MENA, with Google joining as a limited partner in what the firms described as the technology giant's first investment in a regional venture capital firm.

The fund will target AI-native startups building application-layer products, localised AI models and supporting infrastructure. STV framed the vehicle as a response to a stark funding gap: only about 1.5 percent of MENA venture capital went to AI startups in 2024, compared with roughly 38 percent in the United States, even as demand for Arabic-first and regionally tuned AI accelerates.

"We believe that most of the AI value will accrue at the application layer," said Ahmad AlNaimi, general partner at STV, adding that combining the firm's regional expertise with Google's global AI leadership would help scale startups that can compete internationally. Najeeb Jarrar, Google's regional marketing director for the Middle East and Africa, said the commitment allowed the company to keep "supporting entrepreneurs who are building the future of AI in the region."

The fund adds to a wave of AI-focused capital formation in the Gulf and gives regional founders a well-resourced, strategically backed source of funding at a moment when global investors are racing to deploy into the sector.