More than 2,500 startups, roughly US$2.6 billion of venture capital into Riyadh since 2018, and four unicorns.
The takeaway: your next competitor — or your next acquisition — is younger than your strategy document. Corporates need a scouting lane, not a memo.
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July's banking profit dips
Saudi banks made SAR 8.52 billion in profit before zakat and tax in July 2026, up 3% from SAR 8.24 billion in July 2025 but down from SAR 10.10 billion in June. Total assets reached SAR 5.187 trillion, up 7.30% year on year, deposits SAR 3.113 trillion, up 8.58%, and private sector credit SAR 3.266 trillion, up 5.64%. The data covers banks listed on the Saudi Exchange and foreign bank branches, from SAMA's monthly bulletin.
Banks are seeing deposits grow faster than loans, so margins are likely to be protected rather than increased. If you are selling to a bank, focus on cost-to-serve and skip the growth angle.
Riyadh climbs forty-seven places
Riyadh rose 47 places to rank 50th worldwide among 1,000 cities across 163 countries in Oxford Economics' 2026 Global Cities Index, after placing 118th in 2024 and 97th in 2025; the index scores cities on five pillars and 27 sub-indicators covering economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance.
Moving from 118th to 50th in two years reflects both strong performance and city improvement. Companies considering a regional headquarters should highlight this in their internal proposals, as boards typically accept such external rankings without question.
PIF publishes its year
The Public Investment Fund's 2025 results show revenue up 9% to $120 billion and net profit more than doubling to $17 billion, with assets under management above $900 billion against $530 billion in 2021, annualised total shareholder return of 5.8% since 2017, 80% of assets held domestically and 55% in alternatives. PIF put its contribution at 11% of Saudi non-oil GDP in 2025 and $342 billion cumulatively from 2021 to 2025, with $199 billion deployed domestically over that period and international investments up 12% in 2025.
Revenue grew 9% and profit more than doubled, and the gap is portfolio companies beginning to pay out, not the fund's businesses running twice as well. The maturation of the new strategy is built on, showing up before the strategy did.
