Tali Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
Tali Ventures is the corporate venture capital arm of Saudi Telecom Company (stc group), launched in March 2024 to complement stc group's broader innovation strategy. The fund invests in startups whose technologies align with stc group's innovation agenda, with an explicit mandate across artificial intelligence, fintech, proptech, and IT sectors including IoT and cybersecurity. Beyond capital, Tali Ventures positions itself as a value-add investor, offering portfolio companies market access, technology transfer, and strategic partnerships with stc group's operating businesses (e.g. solutions by stc, sirar by stc).
Stage Focus
Tali Ventures invests across early to late stage, with observed activity concentrated in Seed through Series B. It has backed pre-institutional seed rounds (Solidrange), Series A rounds (Bonat, Cognna, Tarmeez Capital), and Series B rounds (NorthLadder, Graphiant), indicating a flexible mandate rather than a single-stage focus.
Check Size
Check sizes vary significantly by stage and deal role. Reported figures range from participation tickets in the low hundreds of thousands to a $10M lead check (NorthLadder Series B) and a reported $19M combined commitment alongside Aramco-backed Wa'ed Ventures in Graphiant's Series B extension. Exact per-deal allocation from Tali Ventures alone is not always disclosed when it co-invests.
Lead Tendency
Mixed. Tali Ventures has led or co-led several of its highest-profile deals (Bonat's $6M Series A, NorthLadder's $10M Series B, Tarmeez Capital's strategic round, and Graphiant's Series B extension co-lead), but has also taken participant/follower positions in syndicate rounds (Cognna's Series A led by Impact46; Solidrange's seed led by Sharaka Capital; FlyAkeed's equity round).
Recent Activity
Tali Ventures has been highly active through 2024-2026, deploying into at least 10 disclosed startups since its March 2024 launch. Most recent disclosed activity is a co-investment in FlyAkeed's equity round announced around LEAP26 (September 2026). The firm appears to be actively deploying, with a steady cadence of new investments roughly every 1-3 months.
Portfolio Highlights
Notable portfolio companies include Nile (secure network-as-a-service, later formalized into the Nile MEA joint venture with solutions by stc), Rewaa (retail inventory/POS SaaS, later raised a $27M Series A from other investors), NearPay (NFC tap-to-pay infrastructure), Bonat (AI-driven customer engagement and loyalty platform), NorthLadder (global device trade-in platform), Graphiant (US-based Network-as-a-Service provider that used the round to open a Riyadh regional HQ), Tarmeez Capital (Sharia-compliant sukuk and debt-instruments fintech), Cognna (agentic AI cybersecurity SOC platform), Solidrange (AI-driven GRC automation and compliance platform), and FlyAkeed (corporate travel management platform).
Team
- Motaz Al-Angari - Group Chief Investment Officer, stc group; quoted publicly on Tali Ventures' investment rationale (e.g. Bonat).
- Majed Al Jarboua - General Manager, Corporate Fund and Entrepreneurship at stc group; leads stc group's innovation engine spanning Tali Ventures (CVC), CoLab (venture builder), and InspireU (accelerator). Most frequently quoted spokesperson for Tali Ventures deals.
- Husain H. Alfares - Senior Investment Director at Tali Ventures, involved in sourcing and executing strategic investments.
- Salih AlSubai, Saud AlHawawi, Muhammad Salman Akbar, Anas Algahtani, Khalid Raza - Investment team members associated with Tali Ventures per LinkedIn and deal-related social posts.
Decision Process
As a corporate venture arm embedded within stc group's Corporate Fund and Entrepreneurship function, investment decisions likely flow through an internal investment committee rather than a solo GP or flat partnership, consistent with typical CVC governance and the visible involvement of both the Group CIO and the GM of Corporate Fund and Entrepreneurship in deal announcements.
Founder Preferences
Tali Ventures gravitates toward technical, execution-focused founders building in sectors adjacent to stc group's core telecom, digital services, and fintech ecosystem - favoring companies that can plug into stc group's distribution, enterprise relationships, and regional infrastructure (e.g. Nile's networking-as-a-service, Graphiant's NaaS, Bonat and NearPay's merchant/payments rails).
Geographic Focus
Primarily Saudi Arabia and the wider GCC/MENA region, with selective international exposure via companies expanding into or through Saudi Arabia (e.g. Graphiant, a US-based company that used Tali Ventures' investment to establish a Riyadh regional headquarters; NorthLadder, a globally operating device trade-in platform).
Notable Caveat: Official Website Status
Tali Ventures' official website (tali.vc) is currently non-functional as a source of research: it serves an expired-SSL-certificate, Angular SPA shell whose underlying AEM content model returns entirely placeholder data (team members literally named "Name 1" through "Name 6" with title "HR Manager", lorem-ipsum board member copy, and empty portfolio/news objects). All substantive research in this document was sourced externally (press coverage, LinkedIn, SPA/Arab News, deal-specific announcements) rather than from tali.vc itself.