How Silicon Valley Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Middle East Money Again

How do you know when a venture capitalist or founder is in Saudi Arabia looking to get a piece of the country’s piles of petro cash for their latest funds or startups?

A telltale sign is the procession of Mercedes-Benz cars and SUVs weaving through the streets of Riyadh from the city’s Four Seasons Hotel to grand royal meeting rooms where local sovereign wealth fund managers are waiting. Zafer Younis is often inside a vehicle in one of those caravans, accompanying guests from the West. Since 2019, his firm—Silicon Valley Venture and Innovation—has helped broker introductions for U.S. venture capitalists to wealthy investors in the Middle East, packing their days with dozens of pitch meetings in Riyadh, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Younis often has to remind his clients, whom he declined to identify on the record, that their Silicon Valley swagger might not translate well in the Middle East. “Humbleness is super important” in Middle Eastern culture, said Younis, who has even written a guide for venture capitalists that want to raise money in the region.

Currently, business is booming for Younis. The end of the era of cheap capital has led to one of the grimmest periods for fundraising on record for Western startups and VC firms at a time when a boom in artificial intelligence startups is prompting a voracious appetite for cash. That has prompted many founders and investors from the U.S. to go abroad with their proverbial hats in their hands, especially to regions where high oil prices have swelled the size of sovereign wealth funds. Over 90 investors have asked Younis for help organizing road shows with investors in the Middle East last year, a greater number than ever before.