Saudi Venture Capital (SVC) has invested in the Growth Catalyst Fund, a new vehicle targeting between $150 million and $200 million to back growth-stage companies across Saudi Arabia and the wider GCC. The fund is managed by Growth Catalyst Investment Company, a Riyadh-based private equity firm founded in 2025 by Turki Al-Dayel and licensed by the Capital Market Authority.
The fund targets companies that have already proven their business models and need strategic capital, operational improvements and institutional governance to scale, focusing on sectors including healthcare, education, consumer, defence, renewable energy and food and beverage. It represents a deliberate move up the maturity curve for SVC, which has historically anchored the Kingdom's early-stage venture ecosystem through fund-of-funds commitments and co-investments alongside angel groups.
Al-Dayel brings more than 17 years across private equity and institutional investment in Saudi Arabia, having previously served as CEO of Ninety-One (formerly Investec Asset Management) in the Kingdom and Head of Alternative Investments at Al-Raedah Investment, the investment arm of one of Saudi's largest pension pools. He currently sits on the boards of Tamara, the Saudi BNPL unicorn, as chairman of its audit committee. Al-Dayel also chaired SVC's own Investment Committee from 2023 to 2025 before stepping down to found Growth Catalyst.
Growth Catalyst has already made at least one portfolio investment. The firm backs Vaccine Industrial Company, which in late 2025 signed an MoU with Australia's CSL Seqirus and the Saudi Ministry of Health to localise cell-based influenza vaccine manufacturing in the Kingdom.
The fund launch comes as Saudi's private capital ecosystem matures beyond early-stage venture. The gap between seed funding, which has become relatively available, and the growth capital needed to take companies from SAR 50 million in revenue to IPO readiness has remained wide, and Growth Catalyst is one of a small number of new Saudi-domiciled vehicles designed to fill it.
