Riyadh, October 29, 2025 — Global venture powerhouse Insight Partners, renowned for scaling high-growth technology companies worldwide, is entering Saudi Arabia’s burgeoning innovation ecosystem through a strategic investment in 3Ventures. The partnership aims to accelerate the development of AI-led startups and reinforce the Kingdom’s long-term ambition of becoming a regional technology hub.
3Ventures, a Riyadh-based venture and innovation house, combines venture funding, venture building, and ecosystem development. Its CEO, Ziad Musallam, emphasizes that the collaboration transcends financial investment. “This partnership is about building the foundations of a lasting innovation economy. Together, we are designing a model that empowers Saudi founders, attracts global investors, and establishes the Kingdom as a leader in AI-driven technology creation,” he said.
The alliance leverages Insight Partners’ three decades of global investment and operational expertise with 3Ventures’ in-depth understanding of the local innovation landscape. Deven Parekh, Managing Director at Insight Partners, highlighted the complementary strengths: “This collaboration allows us to combine our global scale-up experience with 3Ventures’ on-the-ground insight and execution capability so that together, we can build the builders of Saudi Arabia and the MENA region.”
Initial efforts will focus on crafting a comprehensive venture strategy, including sector prioritization and operational playbooks, with AI-centric startups in digital health, fintech, smart infrastructure, logistics, and industrial transformation as key targets. As the platform matures, the partnership will evolve into a strategic model empowering 3Ventures to independently lead venture creation and ecosystem development within the Kingdom.
The initiative is poised to shape the country’s private and public sectors alike. By embedding world-class venture design, investment discipline, and operational know-how, it seeks to equip entrepreneurs and corporates with the tools needed to scale ventures from Saudi soil to global markets. Legal and business advisory support was provided by Willkie Farr & Gallagher and HDVentures, respectively.
Editorial Insight:
Saudi Arabia is accelerating its pivot from an oil-reliant economy to a technology-driven ecosystem. By aligning a local powerhouse like 3Ventures with a global investor of Insight Partners’ caliber, the Kingdom is not just importing capital—it is importing proven operational expertise in venture scaling, founder support, and global market navigation.
The focus on AI-driven sectors signals a strategic intent to position Saudi startups at the forefront of global technological trends. While many regional ecosystems rely on venture capital inflows alone, this model prioritizes operational mentorship, repeatable venture-building processes, and ecosystem orchestration—factors often missing in nascent markets.
For investors and corporates, this partnership may serve as a benchmark for the design of future venture ecosystems across the MENA region. Saudi founders now gain access to both capital and a structured playbook for rapid scale, potentially shortening the time from ideation to market impact while ensuring global competitiveness.
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