Sanabil, the venture arm of the Saudi Arabia sovereign wealth fund, has unveiled its portfolio of venture capital and private equity funds. The portfolio includes prominent names like Andreessen Horowitz, Coatue, and Techstars.
Operating for about a decade, Sanabil invests approximately $2 billion per year. However, some business leaders have pulled out from the fund's major conference while several investors have stated that they would not accept money from limited partners with conflicting values.
The 2018 murder of Jamal Khashoggi – a dissident journalist – brought attention to Silicon Valley companies taking money from Saudi investors. This raised many questions about who in Silicon Valley was accepting investments from the Saudis.
Despite this controversy and backlash, Sanabil continues to invest heavily in both domestic and international startups across various sectors such as technology, healthcare, logistics etc.
As Sanabil reveals its impressive list of VC/PE firms it is associated with; it remains to be seen whether these revelations will impact its investment strategy or future prospects.