Ashraf AboArafe
Yesterday evening, the third edition of the international technical conference “LEAP24” was concluded, the largest global technical event in the region in terms of turnout due to the support and empowerment it enjoys from His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince and Prime Minister – may God protect him – This comes as a translation of the goals of Vision 2030, making the Kingdom the largest digital market in the Middle East and North Africa.
The Leap 24 conference, in its third edition, organized by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming and Drones, and Tahaluf Company, has achieved many new records at the sector level since its launch in 2022, with the participation of 1,800 international and local entities.
In the closing speech of the LEAP Conference in its third edition, Faisal Al-Khamisi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming and Drones, noted the support and empowerment that the conference enjoys from His Highness the Crown Prince, saying: The conference seeks year after year to keep pace with the vision and aspirations of His Highness so that the Kingdom occupies its leading and natural position as the most important technical center. And digitally in the region and the world.
Al-Khamisi added: “We were thinking of a conference that would change the calendar of the technical world forever, simply because we are in Riyadh, the capital of the impossible, and in light of Vision 2030 led by His Highness the Crown Prince.” He added: “We received 50,000 guests from outside the Kingdom this year,” and he compared his speech to international conferences. It has been around for decades, and the LEAP conference was the youngest and most attended.
In his speech, he said: “Officially, LEAP has become the most attended technical conference in the world, with 215,000 visitors attending, which had a clear impact in increasing the occupancy rate of hotels in Riyadh to 99%.” He mentioned in his speech that during the conference, launches and investments worth more than $1.5 billion were announced, in addition to what was announced on the first day, bringing the total launches and investments in LEAP in its third edition to $13.4 billion.
While Alliance CEO Michael Champion pointed out that attendance at the LEAP conference this year increased to 25%, he also noted that the conference area is equivalent to 37 football fields, and added that the number of investors has increased by 60% compared to last year.
“Leap24” played a prominent role, as it became the largest technical movement in 3 years, from 6 billion dollars to 12 billion dollars announced by binding agreements from CEOs, and the greatest technical gathering of entrepreneurs through 215 thousand technical visitors with more than 50 thousand from outside the Kingdom, which is the highest in The world in the technical field, the greatest technical movement in venture capital and entrepreneurs with a 52% share of the region and 40% of the market, and a headquarters for stimulating foreign direct investments in a way that supports economic growth and the rapidly developing digital system in the Kingdom.
One of the most prominent announcements this year was that Amazon Web Services invested huge amounts of $5.3 billion to establish a high-capacity cloud region in the Kingdom, which enhances the technological capabilities in the region. IBM announced an investment of $250 million to establish the first center. Global software development in the Kingdom, which contributes to enhancing technology and innovation skills. ServiceNow also joined these pioneering steps by announcing an investment worth $500 million to launch its first data center in the region, which constitutes a major addition to the digital infrastructure in the Kingdom.
Among the most notable launches are; Announcement of the National Development Fund in cooperation with the Social Development Bank; The launch of two venture investment funds in the gaming and e-sports sector, with a total value of 450 million riyals ($120 million) between the Social Development Bank and the two companies, Mirak Financial and Impact Financial (Impact46), and the National Information Technology Development Program (NTDP) launched five initiatives supporting digital entrepreneurship. In addition to 7 announcements to launch investment funds and financing rounds for technology startups worth more than $888 million, and in the field of private investments, Oasis announced the launch of its second fund, “The Second Fund,” with a total of $100 million to empower company founders in their initial stages of growth in the East. The Middle East, while Blog & Play announced the launch of its first fund in the region to invest in emerging technology companies in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East and North Africa region, with a value of $50 million.
It is noteworthy that the editions of the largest conference of its kind, “LEAP”, showed it as a vital forum for innovation, technical investment, and the search for new horizons by seizing the abundant opportunities provided by the Fourth Industrial Revolution, as the Kingdom strengthens its position as a regional center for technology, innovation and investment, and contributes to strengthening the digital economy and accelerating the growth of companies. Leading.
