Ex-Google executive raising US$1bn Middle East tech fund

STV, a venture capital firm launched by ex-Google executive Abdulrahman Tarabzouni, is planning to raise at least US$1 billion for the second installment of its Middle East technology investment fund.

Sources close to the issue have indicated this fund has the potential to become the biggest of its kind in the Middle East.

The company, launched in 2017 with US$500 million raised in total from Saudi Telecom Co., has initiated discussions with other potential investors, including Middle East sovereign wealth funds and international pension funds and endowments.

Upon graduating from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a degree in Computer Science, Tarabzouni worked at Morgan Stanley and Oracle Corp. and then went on to become head of Emerging Arabia at Google in 2009. 

Since launching, STV has provided funding to several tech companies that have now gone on to become some of the most prominent tech firms in their sectors.

STV was one of the earliest investors in Careem and also invested in communications provider Unifonic, recipient of a US$125 million equity funding in a SoftBank Group’s Vision Fund 2-led round in September.