The Saudi Cabinet approved the establishment of Sanabil Investments in 2008 RIYADH: The Saudi Arabian Investment Company (Sanabil Investments) on Wednesday announced that its parent company, the Public Investment Fund, had approved increasing its share capital by 50 percent to SR30 billion ($8 billion). The Saudi Cabinet approved the establishment of Sanabil Investments in 2008. A closed joint-stock company, it originally had a paid-up capital of SR20 billion. “Sanabil has implemented its new strategy in 2019 to focus on venture capital, growth strategies and small buyouts, from early to more mature stages of the business life cycles,” the company said in a press statement. In February, Sanabil Investments entered into partnership with the Californian venture capital firm 500 Startups to launch an early stage accelerator program for startups in the Kingdom looking to expand across the Middle East and beyond. The Sanabil 500 MENA Seed Accelerator Program consists of six programs run by 500 Startups over three years for a group of pre-seed and seed stage startups from across the MENA region. Up to 100 startups are expected to receive investment of up to $100,000. From around 500 applications, 14 startups from the MENA region, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, Jordan, and Palestine, were chosen to present their companies to an audience of potential investors at a showcase on Wednesday.