KAUST Innovation Ventures on Closing the Gap in Deep-Tech Startup Investments

KAUST Innovation Ventures is a venture capital firm that oversees a portfolio of homegrown KAUST spinouts as well as international deep-tech startup spin-ins. KAUST Innovation Ventures is the last stage in the innovation-to-commercialization continuum at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Entrepreneurship Centre, where the product research is finally assessed to receive investment.

KAUST has invested in 40 startup companies since its inception in 2010 (up until 2022), with 27 of them, or 68%, being Saudi-born. The fund, like its name suggests, aims to grow an innovation and technology investment community and attract international investors and venture capitalists to the emerging Saudi technology ecosystem. 

With 47% of its current active in