VC Boom In Saudi Arabia, LP Scene and Gov. Fund of Funds, Growth Stage Funding Gap, Potential Consolidation, Delaware of MENA, and more on VC Evolve with VCpreneur and Salem Washeely of Sadu Capital.

Guest Intro:

Salem Washeely is partner & CFO of Sadu Capital. Salem has a long history of managing funds on both credit and equity sides, with stops at Saudi industrial development fund, Elm corporate VC arm, and Derayah. He has been a board member in many startups including Sayarah, and Zid, and now he’s a board member at DataLexing. 

Salem on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/salem-w-40276554/

Sadu Capital's website: https://www.sadu.vc/

In today's episode with Salem Washeely:

1. The VC boom is Saudi Arabia. How the country's VC market evolve in less than 5 years. From a handful of VC firms to more than 70 firms investing $1B every year in tech startups.

2. Who are the LPs behind all this VC expansion? IS it all Gov programs? And what do they look for in fund managers?

3. Is there enough deal flow in Saudi or MENA to deploy all that capital? Are those new VCs competing or co-investing?

4. Why adding value is more important in Saudi than in other emerging markets.

5. Is there a Delaware-like jurisdiction to incorporate startups and Vc funds?

6. Future expectations: More capital to deploy, but managed by less VC firms.

7. Growth capital and tech IPOs in Saudi's stock market.

VC Evolve Podcast is hosted by VCpreneur: Ahmad Takatkah.

VC Evolve Podcast:

Conversations about the future of VC. We talk about the Venture Capital model evolution: How has VC evolved in the past? What innovations are being introduced to the traditional VC model? What will it look like in the future? We also talk about VC data, VC books, VC tech stack, VC funds, VC skill set, challenges, opportunities, and more.

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