Exel by Merak has awarded $5.1 million to 17 startups graduating from its second gaming accelerator cohort, as part of the $80 million Merak Gaming Fund supporting Saudi Arabia’s games industry under Vision 2030.
Exel by Merak has awarded a total of $5.1 million to 17 startups graduating from the second cohort of its gaming accelerator program in Riyadh, marking one of the more structured early stage capital deployments in Saudi Arabia’s gaming ecosystem this year. The funding was distributed through the Merak Gaming Fund, an $80 million vehicle established to support the development of gaming studios and interactive entertainment companies in the Kingdom.
Each of the 17 participating startups received $300,000 in funding upon completion of the 13 week accelerator program. The structured cohort included intensive mentorship, product refinement sessions, publishing strategy development, and investor readiness preparation ahead of Demo Day presentations.
The accelerator is backed by Merak Capital, a Riyadh based investment firm, and operates under the Merak Gaming Fund (MGF), which was launched as part of the Gaming and Esports Sector Financing Program. The initiative is overseen by the National Development Fund (NDF) in partnership with the Social Development Bank and the Saudi Esports Federation, positioning it within Saudi Arabia’s broader Vision 2030 economic diversification strategy.
Industry reports indicate that startups in the second cohort collectively generated more than $1.2 million in early revenue and achieved over 2 million social media impressions ahead of Demo Day. The cohort included developers building titles across mobile, PC, and console platforms, reflecting Saudi Arabia’s efforts to localize game development capabilities and expand domestic content production.
The 13-week program included access to 18 global gaming mentors, hands-on operational guidance, and in-house support teams based in Riyadh. Startups received assistance across product design, monetization modeling, go to market execution, and publishing negotiations, areas frequently cited as scaling challenges for early stage gaming studios.
Saudi Arabia has increased investment in gaming and esports as part of its national strategy to develop creative and digital industries. Alongside sovereign backed global gaming investments, domestic initiatives such as the Merak Gaming Fund aim to build a pipeline of locally developed intellectual property and scalable studios.
Applications for Cohort 3 are scheduled to open in April 2026, signaling continued capital deployment through the accelerator framework.
