RIYADH: With large investments and fresh projects, Saudi venture capital firms are fostering innovation in the area. The $21.7 million series B fundraising round for Andium, a New York-based industrial internet-of-things monitoring and communications business, was headed by Aramco Ventures. Participating were private investors like Thomas Miglis, a former chief investment officer of Citadel, as well as current backers like Climate Investment and Intrepid Financial Partners. The investment follows Andium’s $15 million series A round in 2021, bringing its total capital to over $40 million.
Andium will be able to boost operations in oil and gas regions in the US and the Middle East, lower technological costs, increase research and development efforts, and expand globally more quickly thanks to the recently raised funding. Wa’ed Ventures, the $500 million financial capital arm of Saudi Aramco, has set aside $100 million for early-stage investments in artificial intelligence. This program supports the Kingdom’s strategic development objectives and aims to establish Saudi Arabia as a global leader in technology.
An advisory group made up of professionals from prestigious international organisations like Meta, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Oxford University, and Amazon will supervise the fund’s deployment. According to a PwC research, artificial intelligence could increase Saudi Arabia’s GDP by $135 billion by 2030, or 12% of its gross domestic product.
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