Saudi Aramco’s Wa’ed Ventures leads a USD 10 million investment in U.S.-based Kure Cells ahead of the Global Health Exhibition 2025 to expand cell therapy in Saudi Arabia.
Riyadh, October 2025 — Wa’ed Ventures, the venture capital arm of Saudi Aramco, has led a USD 10 million pre-Series A round in Kure Cells, a U.S.-based biotechnology company developing rapid cell and gene therapy platforms. The announcement comes ahead of the Global Health Exhibition 2025 in Riyadh, where healthcare investment and innovation are expected to be central themes.
The funding will support Kure Cells’ entry into the Saudi market through the establishment of a cell therapy R&D and manufacturing hub in the Kingdom. The move aligns with Saudi Arabia’s broader Vision 2030 strategy to localize biopharmaceutical production and build advanced healthcare research capacity.
Kure Cells, co-founded by David Wald and Sayer Alfuraydi, has developed a proprietary platform called UF-CAR, which enables the engineering of patient T-cells in under 24 hours. The process significantly reduces the time needed to produce personalized CAR-T therapies, which are used to treat certain cancers and autoimmune diseases.
The investment is part of Wa’ed Ventures’ plan to diversify into the life sciences sector. The fund, which manages over USD 500 million, is targeting technologies that can be transferred or localized to Saudi Arabia through partnerships with international firms.
At the Global Health Exhibition 2025, Wa’ed Ventures is expected to highlight its investment in Kure Cells as an example of cross-border collaboration in biotechnology. The event, hosted at the Riyadh Exhibition and Convention Center (Malham), will bring together more than 160,000 healthcare professionals, 2,000 brands, and 1,000 investors to discuss advancements in medical innovation, digital health, and investment in healthcare systems.
Kure Cells’ expansion into Saudi Arabia will involve collaborations with research institutions and regulators, including the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA), the Saudi Research, Development and Innovation Authority (RDIA), and the Ministry of Investment (MISA). The initiative supports the Kingdom’s effort to develop a local ecosystem for cell and gene therapy research and commercialization.
The global market for cell and gene therapy is projected to exceed USD 100 billion by 2030, according to Grand View Research. Saudi Arabia’s entry into the field places it among emerging centers for biotech R&D and manufacturing in the Middle East.
Wa’ed Ventures’ participation in the Kure Cells round marks one of the largest Saudi-led investments in an American biotech firm to date. It underscores a growing focus on healthcare technology and medical research partnerships ahead of the Global Health Exhibition, where Saudi entities are expected to announce new collaborations across the health innovation spectrum.
