Biban 2025 is shaping up to be one of the most ambitious events in Saudi Arabia’s entrepreneurial calendar, a showcase of the Kingdom’s growing influence on the global startup scene. From November 5 to 8, the Riyadh Front Exhibition & Conference Center will host more than 140,000 visitors, 1,600 exhibitors, and 200 speakers. The organizers expect deals and agreements worth SAR 22 billion ($5.8 billion) to be signed over four days, drawing participants from more than 150 countries. For Saudi Arabia, it is more than just a conference; it is part of a much larger vision to transform the Kingdom into a hub where entrepreneurship and innovation drive economic diversification.
The forum takes its name from the Arabic word for “doors,” and the concept runs deep in its design. Biban creates a set of doors for different stages of the entrepreneurial journey, allowing founders, SMEs, and corporates to move through curated tracks depending on their priorities. There are doors for startups seeking exposure, for investors searching for deal flow, for companies aiming to expand into e-commerce, and for businesses ready to franchise their models across borders. Each track is more than just a label — it becomes a space where founders meet mentors, investors encounter entrepreneurs, and policymakers hear directly from the people building the future economy. The effect is less like a typical expo and more like an ecosystem in motion, with each “door” opening to tangible opportunities.
The speaker lineup for Biban 2025 reflects the event’s ambition to mix local leadership with international perspectives.
- HRH Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud of KBW Ventures will bring a focus on sustainability and venture capital
- Robert Herjavec, best known from Shark Tank, will share lessons from building and investing in North American companies.
- Neil Patel, a household name in digital marketing, will join to speak about global growth strategies
- Zack Kass, formerly of OpenAI, will weigh in on the disruptive power of artificial intelligence.
- Steve Rafferty of Zoom will highlight global scaling lessons
- Dr. Aisha Bin Bishr, a regional authority on smart cities, will connect the conversation to digital transformation.
But Biban’s impact isn’t measured by stages and soundbites alone. The forum has earned a reputation as a deal-making floor where agreements are signed and partnerships are forged. In 2024, the event recorded SAR 35.4 billion ($9.4 billion) in deals, from financing packages backed by banks to strategic partnerships with tech multinationals. The 2025 edition has set a lower numerical target, but the goal this year is quality over volume, ensuring that agreements translate into real growth for SMEs and startups. With banks, sovereign funds, and venture investors preparing to unveil new initiatives, and with global tech firms like Oracle, Alibaba Cloud, and Zoom deepening their footprint in the Saudi market, the forum is positioned as both a local accelerator and a global gateway.
What sets Biban apart from many entrepreneurship conferences is that it does not stop once the booths are packed away. Integrated into the forum are lasting infrastructure programs like the Business Engine, a framework that helps startups move from concept to funding; Jadeer, a certification service that builds SME credibility for contracts; and Business Atlas, a data-driven platform offering entrepreneurs insights into markets in real time. These initiatives ensure that the momentum generated during the event carries into the months and years that follow. It is part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 roadmap, which aims to make SMEs a cornerstone of the national economy.
At its heart, Biban is also a global stage. Participation is expected from across Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Americas, bringing together an eclectic mix of founders, accelerators, and policymakers. For Saudi founders, this means access to investors and enablers they might never otherwise meet. For international startups, it means a direct entry point into one of the fastest-growing markets in the world, one backed by government ambition and an ecosystem flush with capital. Biban has become a place where an Ethiopian agritech startup can pitch to Gulf investors, or a Riyadh-based SME can map out expansion into Southeast Asia with the guidance of global partners.
Behind the billion-dollar numbers are also very human stories. A young Saudi founder may pitch her AI-driven healthtech startup to a room of global investors, hoping to land the funding that will take her prototype into production. An African entrepreneur may showcase an innovative farming solution, dreaming of scaling into Middle Eastern markets. A mid-sized Saudi company might sit through a franchise workshop and walk away with the roadmap to open branches abroad. These individual journeys are what give Biban its texture. For all the grand ambitions, it is these connections, conversations, and moments of recognition that carry the forum’s true value.
Biban 2025 matters because it is both a symbol and a strategy. It symbolizes Saudi Arabia’s intent to move away from an oil-dependent economy, while strategically creating the conditions for entrepreneurship to thrive. By bringing together founders, investors, policymakers, and global thought leaders, Biban is positioning Riyadh not as a regional player, but as a global capital of entrepreneurship. The four days in November may pass quickly, but the deals signed, the partnerships formed, and the startups launched could define the region’s business landscape for years to come.
In many ways, Biban is Saudi Arabia’s open door — not just for entrepreneurs within the Kingdom, but for the world’s innovators looking to be part of a rapidly changing region. For anyone in the business of building, funding, or scaling companies, Biban 2025 will not be just another conference. It will be the place where ideas cross borders, where ambitions turn into agreements, and where the future of entrepreneurship in the Middle East begins to take shape.
Biban 2025 in Riyadh to attract 140,000+ visitors and $5.8B in Startup Deals