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King Khalid University today witnessed the closing ceremony of the Business Accelerator and University Startups Program, held at the University City in Al-Fara’a in partnership with the Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority (Monsha’at), in the presence of His Excellency the University President, Prof. Faleh bin Raja Allah Al-Solamy, along with a number of university leaders and stakeholders in the entrepreneurship ecosystem.
In his remarks during the ceremony, His Excellency the President of King Khalid University, Prof. Faleh bin Raja Allah Al-Solamy, highlighted the strong support and attention accorded by the wise leadership to entrepreneurship, the private sector, and investment. He also noted the interest and follow-up shown by His Royal Highness the Governor of Aseer Region and Chairman of the Aseer Development Authority, as well as His Royal Highness the Deputy Governor, in supporting this sector in a way that contributes to achieving development goals and strengthening the region’s economic enablers.
Al-Solamy explained that Aseer Region possesses exceptional economic potential and opportunities, particularly in sectors aligned with its competitive advantages, foremost among them tourism, hospitality, heritage, and culinary arts. He affirmed King Khalid University’s aspiration to contribute to achieving the objectives of the business accelerator ecosystem across the Kingdom, supporting promising ventures, and strengthening the innovation and entrepreneurship environment.
Al-Solamy added that the University is working to consolidate its position as a stimulating environment for launching startups and to provide a competitive ecosystem that helps transform entrepreneurial ideas and projects into companies capable of growth and competition, in line with the development objectives of the region and the Kingdom.
For his part, Director of the Entrepreneurship Center at King Khalid University, Dr. Majed Al-Othaimeen, explained that the idea of establishing an investment fund to support promising university companies originated from the Entrepreneurship Center, with the aim of completing the startup journey from incubation and acceleration to investment and growth.
He noted that establishing the fund represents a qualitative leap in King Khalid University’s entrepreneurship ecosystem, following the completion of its institutional stages and approval by the Council of Universities Affairs, thereby enhancing the opportunities available to promising university companies for growth and competition at both the local and global levels.
The ceremony also celebrated 20 university startups participating in the program, which ran for six months and included 34 training hours and 230 consulting hours, with the aim of developing the companies’ capabilities and enabling them to advance to more developed stages in their entrepreneurial journey.
The program’s results reflected positive indicators, with participating companies achieving 97% growth in customer numbers, 198% growth in revenues, and 169% growth in employment, in addition to 44 deals and investment rounds valued at approximately SAR 9 million.
These results reflect the ability of university startups to grow, attract investment, and strengthen their contribution to the economic landscape, underscoring the importance of supporting the entrepreneurship ecosystem and enabling promising companies to access markets and achieve economic growth.
