Leap 2025: Equinix to build $1bn Saudi data centre and start-ups get $494m backing

Microsoft will also open a data centre academy in the kingdom

Abdullah Alswaha, Saudi Arabia's Minister of Communications and Information Technology, delivering a keynote at the Leap technology conference in Riyadh. Photo: Leap

Investment pledges into Saudi Arabia's technology sector continued on the third day of the Leap summit in Riyadh on Tuesday, with US company Equinix revealing plans to invest more than $1 billion in building a data centre in the kingdom.

The new centre is aimed at meeting the growing demand for cloud, artificial intelligence and enterprise workloads, the company said. The facility, which will initially provide 100 megawatts of capacity, will also create direct and indirect jobs in the technology and service sectors.

The data centre will “facilitate our hyperscale and retail customers, companies in Saudi Arabia and beyond, and also bring many of our customers to the Middle East”, Judith Gardiner, vice president for emerging markets at Equinix, said at the event.

Microsoft also boosted its contribution to the sector, announcing that it will open a data centre academy in the kingdom. It will be built in partnership with the Dammam-based National Information Technology Academy.

The kingdom's tech start-up sector also received nearly half a billion dollars in funding support. The $494 million funding pledges cover key industries such as AI, deep technology and logistics, backed by major venture capital funds and investors including STV, Rua Ventures, Beco Capital and Waed Capital, among others. Accelerators and incubators were also launched.

Huawei Technologies, meanwhile, unveiled its Future Skills Centre, which has a goal of training 25,000 individuals in areas such as AI, the cloud and big data over the next five years.

Consultancy Accenture will also open an AI academy in Saudi Arabia in co-operation with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. It is designed to “bridge the gap between the AI theory and the real-world impact”, said Mohammed Bamaga, the Accenture Academy lead in the Middle East.

HandsOn Global Investment, a California-based venture capital company, said it will invest $300 million to bring and launch games from “top developers in the world” in Saudi Arabia.

Tuesday's announcements reinforce the efforts of Saudi Arabia, which continues to tap into technology as part of its wide-ranging strategy to diversify away from oil.

On Monday, pledges of more than $7.4 billion from local and global entities were made to boost Saudi Arabia’s AI and data centre capabilities. Those came on top of the $14.9 billion commitments announced on Sunday.

More than 1,800 technology brands and 680 start-ups are exhibiting at the Leap technology summit in Riyadh this week.