Riyadh – Mubasher: Badir Accelerator on Monday announced plans to finance Saudi technology startups with more than SAR 500,000 starting from the first quarter of 2018.
The investment will be made in exchange for a share in these startups’ capital, the accelerator said, indicating that the financing will be focused on the startup companies’ acceleration phase.
Badir Accelerator will also offer some advisory services such as workshops, guidance, training sessions, and follow-up to develop the entrepreneurial innovations to bring these startups to light within 90 working days, a statement showed.
The growth of Saudi startup scene is forecast to have a positive impact on the country’s economy, raise productivity, and provide more jobs for Saudi youth.
"There is a need for active investments in the early stages of the life of startup companies, thus "Badir Accelerator" is especially aiming at investing in startup technology companies, financing them in the early stages of incorporation and supporting them by many advisory services and required innovation thoughts,” Badir’s CEO Nawaf Al Sahhaf said.
The close and direct cooperation with these startups through their incubation after the stage of acceleration will enhance the value of those companies, the top official added.
Financing contracts of startup technology firms in the Kingdom levelled up 10% year-on-year in the first nine months of 2017, according to a report by Magnet, which specialises in linking startup entrepreneurs with investors in the MENA and GCC regions.
Saudi startups, incubated under the Badir programme, along with one company which had graduated from the project, have attracted $8.6 million in investments during the past three months.
These investments were led by Saudi finance companies and supported by investment groups in the GCC and MENA regions, such as Foodics Company with $4 million, Matic with $3 million, and Smart Control with $1.6 million.
Badir recently organised a meeting for Saudi investors and entrepreneurs to discuss the accelerator’s investments in startup technology firms and facilitate their financing schemes.
During the meeting, five companies presented their products and plans before 20 investors.
The Badir Programme for Technology Incubators is one of the largest programmes of King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), which aims to speed up the growth of Saudi startup companies.
