Oil and gas supplier Saudi Aramco and IT services provider Saudi Information Technology Company have teamed up to form a corporate venturing vehicle that will back emerging information and communication technologies.
The as-yet-unnamed fund will look at promising growth-stage IT and communications businesses and will primarily invest in Saudi Arabia as well as other Middle Eastern countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council. It has not disclosed a fund size.
Saad Alaboodi, Saudi Information Technology Company’s CEO, said: “We are exploring promising opportunities with this joint venture that will drive the transformative leap of the digital resilience and technological advancement of the kingdom and the region.
“This does not only afford Saudi Information Technology Company a position to pioneer the transformation for realising Vision 2030 and lead the investment in national human capital and future technologies, but also speaks to the unique culture of service that the company provides to its clients and its mission to empower national capabilities with training and employment.”
Saudi Aramco already runs a corporate venturing unit, Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures, which was launched in 2012 to invest in spaces related to up and downstream oil and gas, water petrochemicals, renewable energy and energy efficiency.
Reports in September this year suggested Saudi Aramco was mulling the possibility of committing $1bn to a strategic investment fund, though the corporate has not confirmed any such plans.