Plug and Play Tech Center, a Silicon Valley-based tech investor that helped launch companies including Dropbox Inc. and PayPal Holdings Inc., is seeking to raise $100 million to support investments in Saudi digital startups, possibly with help from a division of the country’s sovereign wealth fund.
According to Saeed Amidi, the company’s founder and CEO, Plug and Play is in negotiations with Jada, a $1 billion fund of funds formed by the Saudi wealth fund to aid in the launch of the domestic venture capital business.
Plug and Play is expected to contribute up to 10% of the fund’s total, with the remaining assets coming from Saudi funds and family offices, according to him. The fund is expected to be established by the beginning of January. According to Amidi, Plug and Play is launching the fund because Saudi companies have become of higher caliber in recent years.
“We are not going to lower our standards,” he said. “We invest in the US, Germany — our quality control is not going to change just because it’s Saudi Arabia, and if I cannot find startups that are as high quality, I will not invest.”
In an effort to diversify its oil-dependent economy and generate jobs in the private sector, Saudi Arabia wants to support entrepreneurs and the venture capital sector. Additionally, in 2021, Jada supported a $50 million Middle East fund run by Hambro Perks Ltd.
Five funds totalling $500 million are already under management by Plug and Play, and five more are planned, according to Amidi.