Grace Ashiru
The Jordanian Entrepreneurship Fund has committed $5 million to Saudi venture capital firm STV in a deal designed to channel funding into artificial intelligence startups across the Middle East and North Africa.
Beyond the capital itself, the partnership is structured around what both parties are calling an “AI corridor” linking Jordan and Saudi Arabia — a pipeline intended to give startups in both markets access to deeper pools of funding, technical expertise, and cross-border expansion routes.
The commitment falls under the second phase of the Jordanian fund’s investment strategy, which zeroes in on generative and applied AI. The priority is software and operational tools built for enterprise use — solutions that serve businesses and institutions rather than consumer-facing applications.
The deal also signals a strategic shift in how Jordan is approaching its startup ecosystem. Rather than depending on domestic capital alone, the country is betting on regional partnerships, working on the assumption that AI companies will scale beyond national borders from day one.
Under the agreement, STV will deploy a portion of its capital into Jordanian startups directly. The partnership is also expected to plug Jordanian founders into mentorship networks, market access, and funding opportunities in Saudi Arabia — meaningfully widening their expansion options.
Both sides are betting on the same thesis: that demand for enterprise AI will accelerate as companies across the region adopt the technology to lift performance and productivity. Their shared focus is on startups building AI applications that draw on proprietary institutional data to solve real operational problems.
STV is no stranger to large AI plays — the firm previously launched a $100 million AI fund in partnership with Google.
