Alibaba, PIF-Backed Fund to Raise $1 Billion for Tech Deals

(Bloomberg) — A venture capital fund that’s backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and China’s Alibaba Group is close to raising $1 billion to back technology startups in Asia and the Middle East.

“Saudi has a very big market, and China has internet and technology companies that are preparing to expand globally, so one hand has the market, and the other hand has the technology,” Jerry Li, founding partner of the eWTP Arabia Capital fund, said in an interview in Riyadh.