Wa’ed ventures, Saudi Aramco's venture capital arm has turned its focus toward international investments. It comes as a wider push from the Kingdom to continue to diversify its economy but more importantly turns into an attractive destination for global tech startups. 

For 2022 Wa’ed plans to deploy $100 million this is on the back of piling in around $50 million over the past 9 years. The second half of this year sees the firm line up 11 investment targets to which to deploy its $200 million war chest.

On top of fintech and e-commerce, the firm will expand into sectors such as deep tech, space tech the metaverse and sustainability. In its first global foray, Wa’ed has invested in 5G internet of things satellite operator OQ Technology as part of a 13 million euro ($13 million) series A funding round.