KSA Venture Builder BIM Ventures Launches New $32 Million Fund

One of the MENAP region’s leading venture builders, KSA’s BIM Ventures, has announced the launch of a new venture building investment fund worth $32 million.

‘BIM Investments II’ will look to focus mainly on local startups, working alongside founders from idea validation, all the way to market launch. Throughout the process, founders will receive capital, expertise and operational support, while BIM will also reportedly allocate funds in follow-on rounds when the startups finish their tenure with the Riyadh-based company.

The fund follows on from ‘BIM Investments I’, which was launched in January, 2020, before going on to help build and invest in 20 tech startups. 

“This investment vehicle is a continuation of its predecessor and is aligned with the venture-building fundamental principle in acting as institutional co-founders,” said BIM founder and managing partner, Mohamed Amine Merah. “BIM’s philosophy is to make sure founders build business models that prioritise 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.”

In studying several business models during the deployment of the first fund - which saw some of the participating startups achieve eight-fold growth - Merah and co. will look to develop innovative models to exceed the first fund’s success. It will do so by focusing on startups working in and around proptech, investtech and fintech, though other startups will be considered, too. Interestingly, BIM will begin exploring outside of KSA and have reported that they will establish satellite offices in UAE and Egypt, giving them presence in the Middle East’s top three funded markets.

Said offices come after the company’s venture building ecosystem was inaugurated in March of this year, one that brings together in-house capabilities and services, including tech development, branding, digital marketing, business development, venture analysts, fundraising services and co-working spaces, alongside an external network of advisors, subject matter experts, angel investment networks, VCs and family offices.