Outliers
Riyadh-based early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2019 by Mohammed Almeshekah. It backs fintech, commerce, cybersecurity and other companies across the Middle East, North Africa and the United States.
Industry: Early-stage venture capital | Location: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | Founded: 2019
About Outliers
Outliers is an early-stage venture capital firm based in Riyadh, with Dubai also listed as a location on its LinkedIn page. Its website says it backs founders building at the edge of what is next, calls itself operator-led and patient, and says it invests early. LinkedIn describes it as a fund for founders building compounding businesses in the Middle East and North Africa. Forbes Middle East lists its founding year as 2019.
Mohammed Almeshekah is founder and general partner. His profile on the firm's website says he has built and backed companies in Saudi Arabia, led national digital transformation efforts, founded and exited a cybersecurity firm, held senior government roles and holds a doctorate from Purdue University. Sarah AlSaleh is also a general partner. She previously led the Middle East desk at Dataminr, was head of product at Wasphi and led multi-stage investments at STV.
The website lists 27 portfolio companies grouped under the future of finance, the future of commerce, cybersecurity, education and energy. They include Lean, Tabby, Amwal, FlapKap, Nawy, Stream, Breadfast, Homzmart, Soum, Penny, Noon Academy, Strataphy, Replit and the US cybersecurity company Normalyze, which the page marks as acquired. Forbes Middle East counted 19 portfolio companies in June 2024.
The firm's news page records recent deals. In November 2025 it led Stream's 4 million dollar seed round and Strataphy's 6 million dollar seed round. In January 2026 it led a 5 million dollar seed round in Grove, a Saudi fresh produce company, and in April 2026 it announced an investment in Replit. Wamda reported in May 2026 that Outliers took part in Stream's follow-on 5.2 million dollar seed extension, led by BECO Capital.
Outliers also runs a Fellowship Program that places students in a full-time summer internship of at least 10 weeks with host companies in Riyadh. It announced its 2026 fellows on 16 June 2026 in partnership with SVC, and its Outliers Builders Summit is held in Riyadh. It does not publish its fund size or check sizes.
Leadership
- Sarah AlSaleh, General Partner
- Jihad Alammar, Venture Partner
- May AlSaleh, Investment Associate
- Ahmed Azab, Head of Finance and Operations
- Rayouf Alhumedhi, Designer-in-Residence