Mohammed Alariefy

Assistant Deputy Minister for Entrepreneurship

Mohammed Alariefy is assistant deputy minister for entrepreneurship at Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, a portfolio concerned with developing the Kingdom's digital entrepreneurship and technology startup ecosystem. According to figures published by the ministry, venture capital investment in Saudi Arabia rose from 165 million riyals in 2018 to 6.2 billion riyals by the end of 2025, and the Kingdom had eight technology unicorns by the end of 2025 after having none before Vision 2030. The ministry also reports that jobs in the information and communications technology sector grew from about 250,000 in 2018 to more than 406,000 in 2025, and that the digital economy expanded from 298 billion riyals in 2018 to 522 billion riyals.