Saudi prince postpones fund and targets growth-stage tech

• Prince ‘not ruling out’ future fund
• Shifting focus to high growth
• Investors favour fintech and logistics

Dubai-based investment company KBW Ventures is increasing its focus on later-stage tech investments and postponing plans for a dedicated fund, its founder Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed has told AGBI.

Saudi Arabia’s Prince Khaled said he was initially “excited” by the idea of launching a regional fund, which had been under review for more than a year, but he conceded that “the time isn’t right”.

“I’m not ruling it out for the near future, but presently there will be no fund,” he said on the sidelines of Abu Dhabi Finance Week.

“I have a lot of freedom on how and when KBW Ventures chooses to deploy. With a fund, I would be mandated to certain parameters – while this isn’t a bad thing, it isn’t as agile as a self-funded operation.”

Funds under management globally increased in the first half of the year from just over $4 trillion to around $5.5 trillion. Transaction volumes sank to an eight-year low, down about 58 percent from H2 2024, according to figures from the Dubai Future District Fund. 

“Venture capital is still there but far more selective,” Prince Khaled said. 

He said KBW Ventures’ priorities have changed, taking a more selective approach to pre-seed and seed levels, while concentrating more on later funding rounds. 

“We’re not slowing down, we’re shifting focus. Currently KBW Ventures is primarily focused on high-growth, growth-stage investments at Series A and above,” he said.

The US and GCC account for the majority of KBW’s activity. 

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In the Saudi market, investor appetite remains strongest in fintech, logistics, health tech and educational tech, according to the kingdom’s minister of investment Khalid Al Falih, who spoke at the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh in October.

New sectors including arts and culture, green hydrogen and space are quickly emerging as the next frontier for capital deployment.

Food tech, once a centrepiece of KBW’s portfolio, has seen funding to startups fall from $20.7 billion globally in 2021 to just $6 billion in 2024, according to data from business information platform Crunchbase. 

But Prince Khaled remains optimistic: “This is a recalibration. Weaker models will wash out, but top-quartile platforms with real demand can now be backed at much more rational valuations.” 

Structural pressures, such as climate change, water scarcity and price volatility continue to underpin the sector over the long term, he said.