Key Takeaways
- • Private debt overtook venture capital as the dominant startup funding source in the Gulf in 2025, with structured credit accounting for more than half of the GCC startup ecosystem's $7.4 billion in tracked funding, versus $3.3 billion in venture capital, according to Stride Ventures.
- • GCC private debt deployment reached $4.1 billion in 2025, up more than eightfold from roughly $500 million in 2024.
- • Saudi Arabia accounted for approximately $3.9 billion of GCC private debt transactions, followed by the UAE at $211 million and Bahrain at $22 million.
- • Fintech represented about 95.5 percent of GCC private debt deployed last year, roughly $3.9 billion, with Saudi fintech Tamara securing $2.4 billion and Lendo raising $740 million.
- • Stride Ventures characterizes non-dilutive financing as shifting from a complementary source to a primary growth tool for regional startups, with credit entering the capital stack from Series A through pre-IPO stages.
Summary
Private debt has overtaken venture capital as the dominant source of startup funding in the Gulf Cooperation Council, with Saudi Arabia accounting for the vast majority of the region's $4.1 billion in structured credit deployment in 2025, according to an industry report released by Stride Ventures. The report shows private debt, including venture debt and growth credit, expanded more than eightfold from about $500 million in 2024, reflecting a rapid shift in how high-growth companies across the region finance expansion.
The report found that structured credit accounted for more than half of the GCC startup ecosystem's $7.4 billion in tracked funding during 2025, surpassing venture capital investments of $3.3 billion. Stride Ventures concluded that non-dilutive financing is moving from a complementary funding source to a primary growth tool for startups and scale-ups across the region. Saudi Arabia led the market with approximately $3.9 billion in private debt transactions, well ahead of the UAE at $211 million and Bahrain at $22 million.
Fariha Ansari Javed, partner for GCC and global capital formation at Stride Ventures, said the region's private debt market "has moved from early exploration to institutional conviction," pointing to the participation of the region's largest sovereign wealth funds and to credit entering the capital stack earlier in company lifecycles, particularly across fintech and asset-backed models. According to the report, the growth has been supported by sovereign-backed investment programs, regulatory reforms, rapid fintech expansion and government-led efforts to accelerate business scaling. Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Jada Fund of Funds and Sanabil Investments, alongside the UAE's Mubadala and ADQ, have played a role in expanding the ecosystem.
Unlike more mature markets, where companies typically move from equity to debt at later stages, GCC startups are increasingly combining both forms of capital from Series A through pre-IPO stages. Fintech is the clearest example, with firms requiring substantial and recurring access to capital to support lending operations and platform growth. Fintech accounted for roughly 95.5 percent of private debt deployed in the GCC last year, about $3.9 billion. The largest transactions included Saudi fintechs Tamara at $2.4 billion and Lendo at $740 million, along with Deem at $400 million, Erad at $33 million, the UAE's CredibleX at $100 million, Kitopi at $50 million and Octa at $20 million.
The report said the dominance of fintech reflects a broader structural shift in which institutional lenders increasingly provide asset-backed financing to support loan books, receivables and other growth assets at earlier stages of corporate development.
The report found that structured credit accounted for more than half of the GCC startup ecosystem's $7.4 billion in tracked funding during 2025, surpassing venture capital investments of $3.3 billion. Stride Ventures concluded that non-dilutive financing is moving from a complementary funding source to a primary growth tool for startups and scale-ups across the region. Saudi Arabia led the market with approximately $3.9 billion in private debt transactions, well ahead of the UAE at $211 million and Bahrain at $22 million.
Fariha Ansari Javed, partner for GCC and global capital formation at Stride Ventures, said the region's private debt market "has moved from early exploration to institutional conviction," pointing to the participation of the region's largest sovereign wealth funds and to credit entering the capital stack earlier in company lifecycles, particularly across fintech and asset-backed models. According to the report, the growth has been supported by sovereign-backed investment programs, regulatory reforms, rapid fintech expansion and government-led efforts to accelerate business scaling. Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Jada Fund of Funds and Sanabil Investments, alongside the UAE's Mubadala and ADQ, have played a role in expanding the ecosystem.
Unlike more mature markets, where companies typically move from equity to debt at later stages, GCC startups are increasingly combining both forms of capital from Series A through pre-IPO stages. Fintech is the clearest example, with firms requiring substantial and recurring access to capital to support lending operations and platform growth. Fintech accounted for roughly 95.5 percent of private debt deployed in the GCC last year, about $3.9 billion. The largest transactions included Saudi fintechs Tamara at $2.4 billion and Lendo at $740 million, along with Deem at $400 million, Erad at $33 million, the UAE's CredibleX at $100 million, Kitopi at $50 million and Octa at $20 million.
The report said the dominance of fintech reflects a broader structural shift in which institutional lenders increasingly provide asset-backed financing to support loan books, receivables and other growth assets at earlier stages of corporate development.
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