Homegrown alternative hospitality platform Gathern raised SAR 270 mn in a series B funding round led by PIF-owned Sanabil Investments, it said on LinkedIn yesterday. The round — which saw participation from STV, Nuwa Capital, Pinnacle, and Endeavor — boosted the company’s value to over SAR 1 bn.

Use of proceeds: Gathern plans to use the funding to expand locally and regionally, attract more international visitors, support long-term stays, invest in tech infrastructure, enhance user experience with AI, and grow its network of local hosts, while it prepares for its planned listing on the Saudi Exchange.

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About Gathern: Founded by Latifah Altamimi (LinkedIn) and Eman Alsuwailem (LinkedIn), the platform operates 72k units and has more than 5 mn registered users from 150 nationalities. It has paid out over SAR 2 bn to 33k Saudi hosts and currently controls 44% of the national market share in alternative hospitality, with a 53% market share in Riyadh.

IN OTHER STARTUP NEWS-

Riyadh-based game developer Starvania Studio secured USD 1.1 mn in a funding round led by Merak Capital and Impact46, according to a statement published yesterday.

Where’s the money going? Starvania will use the proceeds to accelerate its growth through developing high-quality, imaginative games for console and PC, improving operational infrastructure and production pipelines and attracting local talent.

About Starvania Studio: Founded in 2022 by Meaad Aflah (LinkedIn) and Muslih Alzahrani (LinkedIn), the company creates fantasy-rich indie games such as its award-winning indie games Bahamut and the Waqwaq Tree.

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