India’s Stride Ventures struck a pact with Jada, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, to accelerate private credit deployment in the Kingdom, as per a press release (pdf). The SWF is stepping up allocations to private credit, calling it a priority asset class as the Kingdom’s financing landscape diversifies.

“The partnership with PIF’s Jada Fund of Funds adds to a series of strategic sovereign and global investor relationships supporting the broader Stride platform, including its

collaboration with SAB Invest to expand private credit deployment in Saudi Arabia’s

innovation economy,” Stride Ventures said in a statement.

Who are they: The New-Delhi based venture debt firm has deployed USD 1.6 bn across 200 companies, including 20 unicorn startups. It plans to invest USD 200 mn in Saudi Arabia over the next two years, targeting capital-starved small and medium enterprises as banks moderate lending growth. For instance, Riyadh-based construction tech firm BRKZ bagged up to USD 30 mn in debt from Stride just last year.

In context: We previously covered Stride's roadmap to scale its GCC assets under management to around USD 500 mn by 2028. As of December last year, the firm secured roughly USD 300 mn in commitments across India, the UAE, and the UK, targeting deployments of USD 1 bn globally.

Private credit priority: Launched in 2018 with roughly USD 1 bn in backing from PIF, Jada has committed nearly USD 600 mn across around 50 funds. Private credit remains significantly underpenetrated in the Kingdom relative to global markets, Jada’s chief executive Bandr Alhomaly told Bloomberg.

Why it matters: Saudi’s debt market is heavily skewed toward traditional banks. Private capital financing continues to represent just 2% of Saudi Arabia’s debt stock, but that has grown tenfold since 2020 to USD 3.7 bn in 2024, in a display of increasing institutional appetite. Unlike the US, where valuation concerns have surfaced, investors view the regional market as nascent, with regulatory frameworks expected to evolve alongside growth.

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