Sanabil Investments

Sanabil Investments is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, deploying more than three billion dollars in capital annually across global private investments including direct, fund-of-funds, and venture studio commitments. Within healthcare, Sanabil has signaled an explicit infrastructure-building posture, most notably through its 2025 partnership with Redesign Health to launch a venture studio in Saudi Arabia with the stated goal of building at least twenty healthcare companies in the Kingdom. That partnership is one of the more consequential institutional moves in MENA healthcare in recent memory, and it signals Sanabil’s intent to combine global capital with operational venture-building rather than merely deploying as a passive LP. The check size at the direct-investment level is in the $25M-plus range, focused on Series A through growth stages, and the firm engages across digital health, health IT software, biotech, and AI applications. The geographic focus is global with a deliberate emphasis on Saudi Arabia and the broader MENA region. The right founder profile is a Series A-ready or growth-stage CEO running a globally significant healthcare business, ideally one with a credible thesis on Saudi Arabia or MENA as a meaningful market opportunity, and the operational maturity to engage with a sovereign institutional investor. For early-stage founders, the more relevant pathway is the Sanabil Venture Studio with Redesign Health, which is positioned to build new companies from concept rather than to back existing seed-stage teams. The wrong fit is an early-stage Indian or US founder with no Saudi or MENA strategy; Sanabil is not a generic global LP-of-VCs at the direct level. The right entry path is through Riyadh institutional finance networks, through PIF-affiliated advisors and operating partners, through global investment banks active in MENA capital deployment, and through Redesign Health’s venture studio process for company-building opportunities. When pitching, lead with the institutional-grade financial picture and the Saudi or MENA strategic thesis, and prepare for diligence that resembles a global PE fund’s process rather than a venture firm’s. Caveats: Sanabil’s scale and sovereign mandate mean the diligence process is rigorous and slow, and founders should approach with realistic expectations about timeline and disclosure requirements. Use Sanabil when you are running a globally significant healthcare business with credible Saudi exposure and need a sovereign-grade institutional partner.