Aramco today (Monday, Feb. 6) announced a strategic partnership with Zoom and an increase in funding for Wa’ed Ventures. The announcements were made at the second edition of LEAP, a major international technology conference held annually in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Zoom The strategic partnership with Aramco aims to build Zoom’s first global data center in the Kingdom, to support the digital transformation ecosystem. The data center is expected to connect to the Zoom global data center network and will serve Saudi Arabia and the region. With Aramco, Zoom will also explore the joint development of innovative technology solutions for the energy sector. The partnership aims to contribute to the digital transformation of various market sectors, such as energy, industry, education, and health care. Wa’ed Ventures Aramco also announced additional funds had been allocated by the company to Wa’ed Ventures, increasing the size of its Kingdom-focused venture capital arm from $200 million to $500 million. The increase will help enable the company to deliver an accelerated investment performance regionally and globally. Wa’ed Ventures aims to: Localize global frontier technologies to advance the Kingdom’s innovation ecosystem Expand investments in mid and growth-stage startups Fund underserved domains such as environmental, social and governance, the metaverse and quantum computing. Amin Nasser, Aramco president and CEO, said: “Our establishment of a diversified network of partners has helped us maintain a track record of reliability, and our new strategic partnership with Zoom is expected to further enable innovative solutions focusing on the digital transformation ecosystem. Furthermore, with an expanded fund size, Wa’ed Ventures aims to facilitate the cross-pollination of innovation between the global and local markets.” Caption for top photo: Amin Nasser delivers major announcements regarding Zoom and Wa’ed Ventures at the LEAP 2023 conference in Riyadh on Monday, Feb. 6.