The Saudi British Joint Business Council (SBJBC) and the Saudi/UK Tech Hub led its second delegation of UK fintech startups, corporates, and investors to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from the 29th to 31st January 2024. Building on the success of our previous delegation in November 2022, this visit provided delegates with a comprehensive overview of the Kingdom’s fintech ecosystem. The program featured insightful meetings with the Ministry of Investment, Fintech Saudi, and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, culminating in a UK-Saudi Fintech Venture Day at King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST).
The 2024 Fintech Venture Day followed on from SBJBC’s successful CleanTech Venture Day in March 2023. It began with ‘scene setting’ panels and fireside chats to highlight the growth of the fintech sector, the benefits of UK-Saudi collaboration and the opportunities available to fintechs in both the UK and Saudi Arabia. The day then brought together eight innovative British and Saudi early stage fintechs, to pitch their ventures to a panel of between four and six judges.
Pitching companies were selected based on a ‘challenge statement’ created by SBJBC and approved by the judges during the shortlisting process. Each company had a maximum of 5 minutes and each pitch was followed by three to four questions from the judging panel.
