'Oil Money' for K-Startups: Korea-Saudi Arabia Establish Joint Fund

President Yoon and Crown Prince Binsalman Meeting in November Last Year
Follow-up Measures for a $160 Million Joint Fund

In November last year, President Yoon Suk-yeol signed the "Korea-Saudi Investment Cooperation and Startup Support Memorandum of Understanding" during a meeting with Crown Prince Bin Salman. As a follow-up measure, a joint fund worth 200 billion KRW was established.

On the 11th (local time), the Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced that Minister Lee Young and Yosef Al Benyan, Chairman of the Board of the Saudi Small and Medium Enterprises Bank, attended the signing ceremony for the establishment of the bilateral joint fund at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Following Minister Lee’s visits to the Davos Forum in January and Saudi Arabia in March, this Middle East visit further strengthened close cooperative relations between the two countries with Saudi government officials, including the Minister of Investment.

The fund, valued at 150 million USD (approximately 195.4 billion KRW), is being established with Saudi Arabia as a major investor. Korea Venture Investment Corporation is contributing 10 million USD (1.3 billion KRW), bringing the total joint fund to 160 million USD (approximately 208.4 billion KRW). Major investors include Saudi Venture Capital (SVC) and the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF Jada). The joint fund agreement stipulates that at least 10 million USD must be invested in Korean companies.

Minister Lee stated, “With the establishment of the Korea-Saudi joint fund, we will actively support our ventures and startups not only in attracting investment but also in entering the Saudi market, striving to become the leading figures of a second Middle East success story.”

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