Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is investing significantly in Silicon Valley’s most promising ventures. Some include Uber, electric carmaker Lucid, and augmented reality startup Magic Leap.
Recently, the PIF diversified to artificial intelligence, acquiring stakes in France’s AI leader Mistral, Databricks, and several smaller AI startups.
Note that Mistral recently raised $640 million at a $6 billion valuation, while Databricks raised $500 million at a $43 billion valuation last year.
Sanabil, the entity managing PIF’s private investments, has also invested in Chinese fast fashion giant Shein, education startup Classera, and health tracking ring Oura.
The list of startups, venture capital, and buyout funds backed by Sanabil is extensive, but the exact investment amounts have not been disclosed.
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In addition to these investments, Sanabil has backed 14 new venture capital firms, including growth-stage giants like Altimeter Capital Management, New Enterprise Associates, and Eric Schmidt’s Innovation Endeavor fund.
Despite being ranked among the world’s least transparent sovereign wealth funds a decade ago, the PIF has recently begun revealing some of its investments and financial performance.
With nearly $1 trillion in assets, the PIF is central to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s efforts to diversify Saudi Arabia’s economy away from oil production.
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