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Raed Ventures is the first private venture capital (VC) firm established in Saudi Arabia, and it has positioned itself to partner with exceptional founders who are building transformative companies in the MENA region.
Raed Ventures was first founded in Riyadh by the three founding partners: Omar Almajdouie, Saed Nashef, and Talal Alasmari. Since its inception in 2015, Raed has quickly established itself as a leading player in the MENA startup ecosystem, and it has invested in 39 portfolio companies.
20 of its 39 portfolio companies are based in Saudi Arabia, making it one of the most active investors in the Saudi startup ecosystem. Although the firm has had five successful exits to date, it has yet to see any exits from its Saudi startup roster. However, Raed Ventures is optimistic about the future, and believes that it’s just a matter of time.
Now, if you’re looking to launch a startup in the future, take note- here are Raed Ventures’ top tips for entrepreneurs:
- Choose a co-founder who compliments you professionally, and, ideally, personality-wise. It’s important to have mutual harmony between co-founders.
- Customer-centric strategies are more likely to make you a market winner.
- Only spend growth money after you are satisfied with the level of product-market fit.
Learn more about the most prominent investors in Saudi Arabia’s startup ecosystem by checking out the report, The Evolution of Saudi Arabia’s Startup Ecosystem 2010-2022.
This article was originally published on Lucidity Insights, a partner of Entrepreneur Middle East in developing special reports on the Middle East and Africa’s tech and entrepreneurial ecosystems.
