Chapter 3: Saudi Arabia's Venture Capital Ecosystem: A Dynamic Ecosystem Lifecycle Model

Venture Capital (VC) plays a significant role in economic performance at both the micro level, affecting firm growth and innovativeness, and the macro level, impacting entrepreneurship rates and employment (Grilli et al., 2019). VC is defined as “independently managed, dedicated pools of capital that focus on equity or equity-linked investments in privately held, high-growth companies” (Gompers & Lerner, 2004, p. 11). Airbnb, Careem, and Anghami are examples of companies backed by VC firms. VCs are part of a larger ecosystem and interact with various players within that ecosystem, such as government bodies, universities, and entrepreneurial support organizations, as well as individuals such as investors, entrepreneurs, and lawyers (Almubarak & Dimov, 2022).