• Saudi Arabia-based VC venture studio BIM Ventures has announced the launch of its second VC fund “BIM Investments II” with a value of $32 million.
• BIM Investments II will provide emerging local tech companies with the capital, expertise and operational support they need to grow, starting from idea validation until market launch. It will also allocate direct investments in follow-on rounds.
• The fund will focus on proptech, investtech and fintech and will be open to platform verticals in other sectors, concentrating on Saudi-born ideas and startups while exploring ideas in the Mena region by launching its satellite offices in Egypt and the UAE later this year.
• BIM Ventures, founded in 2017 by Mohamed Amine Merah, which was launched in January 2020, has co-built and invested in 20 tech startups through its first fund.

Press release:

The leading Venture Building Studio in the region, BIM Ventures, has officially announced the launch of its second venture building investment fund, “BIM Investments II” with a value of SAR120 million ($32 million) in its pursuit to effectively contribute to the region’s startup ecosystem through venture building.

BIM Investments II's strategy will primarily focus on building startups alongside founders, starting with idea validation and until market launch. It will also provide emerging local tech companies with the capital, expertise, and operational support they need to grow and prosper in the market. Moreover, BIM Investments II has an allocation for direct investments in follow-on rounds, which will enable and support startups in their spin-off from the studio.

The venture studio’s first fund, “BIM Investments I”, was launched in January 2020 as the first pure-play fund for a venture building studio in Saudi Arabia, and it had co-built and invested in 20 tech startups. BIM targets pre-inception ideas, pre-seed, and seed-stage tech startups.

Majid AlOsaimi, Chairman of the Board of Directors, stated that: “This step comes to actively contribute to the investment and innovation ecosystem in the Kingdom and the region, in line with the initiatives and support that the entrepreneurship system receives under the Kingdom's Vision 2030. We significantly value the trust and support of our investors and business partners, and we are thankful to the distinguished BIM team that works around the clock to build innovative startups.”

Mohamed Amine Merah, BIM’s Founder and managing partner, emphasized that “This investment vehicle is a continuation of its predecessor and is aligned with the venture-building fundamental principle in the acting as institutional co-founders.” He also added “BIM philosophy is to make sure founders build business models that prioritize financial sustainability. We believe in startups that balance strong growth and healthy cash flows by being capital efficient and focusing on unit economics that make sense early in the building journey.”

BIM investments II will focus on property technologies (Proptech), investment technologies (InvestTech), and financial technologies (FinTech) and will be open to platform verticals in other sectors. In addition, BIM will continue to concentrate on Saudi-born ideas and startups while exploring ideas in the MENA region by launching its satellite offices in Egypt and the UAE later this year.

Rayan AlSharif, the Investment Partner, stated that “We find the Saudi market today to be competitive and rapidly growing, creating qualitative challenges that allow emerging companies to have many opportunities. Accordingly, in the second fund, we aim to develop innovative business models in cooperation with our partners and use our capabilities to efficiently verify the idea's feasibility and then invest in and build it to accelerate its growth and sustainability. During the first fund, we studied several business models in the targeted sectors, and this resulted in quality companies, which achieved more than eightfold growth in value. In the second fund, we aim to invest and create qualitative business models that exceed our achievements in the first fund.”

Ahmed Mirghani, Partner in BIM Ventures, stated that: “The venture investment ecosystem in the region has been growing and maturing considerably month after month, but we still see entrepreneurship and venture investment’s challenges when it comes to early-stage ideas,” he also added. “As a venture builder, this is where we come in by lowering the risk profile for both founders and investors, by putting in motion our network, accumulated experiences, and a shared pool of resources all under one roof.”

Back in March 2022, His Excellency, the Minister of Commerce, Dr. Majid Bin Abdullah Alkassabi inaugurated BIM Ventures’ full-fledged venture building ecosystem with its in-house capabilities ranging from tech development, branding, digital marketing, business development, venture analysts, fundraising services, and co-working spaces in addition to a vast network of advisors, subject matter experts, angel investment networks, VC’s and family offices.