Jada Fund of Funds backs Growth Catalyst Fund I

The PIF-owned Jada Fund of Funds has made its first commitment to Growth Catalyst Fund I, a private equity fund targeting USD 200 mn to back growth-stage Saudi SMEs. It’s a bet on the thinnest part of the Kingdom's capital stack, where companies that have outgrown venture funding still can't reach the public markets.

The fund targets founder-led, upper-middle-market companies, mainly in Saudi Arabia, with growth-stage deals as its core strategy and flexibility to invest in pre-IPO firms, a Jada spokesperson told EnterpriseAM. Jada declined to disclose the size of its commitment.

Why it matters: Saudi Arabia built one of the region's largest venture capital markets, but companies past the startup phase routinely struggle to raise growth equity before an IPO. The fund “is well positioned to meaningfully participate in bridging the SME financing gap,” the spokesperson said, calling private equity a strategic asset class in Jada's portfolio.

DATA POINT- The Kingdom’s SME financing gap is estimated to be somewhere between SAR 300-500 bn.

The investment reflects Jada's strategy of backing emerging Saudi fund managers while expanding the institutional capital available to the Kingdom's private markets, CEO and Managing Director Bandr Alhomaly said in a statement seen by EnterpriseAM.

What's next: Growth Catalyst, led by founder and CEO Turki Al-Dayel, plans to grow established SMEs through their next expansion phase before exiting via IPOs, strategic sales or secondary transactions.