AstroLabs Celebrates Expanding 600 High-Growth Businesses to Saudi Arabia at the '600 Forward' Event
In a landmark celebration, AstroLabs marked a new milestone by announcing the expansion of 600 high-growth businesses into Saudi Arabia, a significant stride towards bolstering the Kingdom's economic landscape. The milestone event, titled “600 Forward: Celebrating Saudi Arabia’s Pillars of Economic Growth,” was hosted at the AstroLabs Terrace in Riyadh, symbolizing a pivotal chapter in Saudi Arabia's journey toward economic diversification and growth. The event gathered 300+ of Saudi’s key leaders across the government sector, international corporations, consultancies, and local businesses, that are at the forefront of the Kingdom’s development.
Roland Daher, AstroLabs’ Chief Executive Officer (CEO), delivered a keynote address, highlighting the growing global interest in the Saudi market. This interest is marked by the rise in the number of notable business expansions to the Kingdom from more than 50 countries and spanning 37 sectors, indicating that this figure has doubled over the last year alone. Notably, among businesses that recently expanded to the Kingdom were multinational conglomerates that generate over $1 billion in annual revenues.
With "Drivers of Saudi Arabia's Sectoral Growth” as its theme, the event showcased the progress made in key economic sectors, blueprinting the future of the Kingdom, and shaping its path forward.
Reflecting on this significant achievement, Daher said: “Tonight, we’re not just celebrating numbers, we’re celebrating real impact. As a business expansion platform, our mission is to help thousands of high-growth companies not just enter the Saudi market, but settle in, operate, grow, and seamlessly connect to the fabric of the Saudi economy. We do that in partnership with the government and the private sector to maximize the integration of these businesses in building new strategic sectors and transforming existing ones, through our various programs from soft landing, to fast pilots to accelerators and innovation programs. We’re not just opening doors, we’re building bridges for international businesses to connect to the right opportunities, with the right partners at the right time.”
The leading segment of the event was dedicated to highlighting the accomplishments of 13 leaders from the AstroLabs expansion network who are steering development in Saudi’s strategic sectors. For example, two companies were recently accepted into the Ignite program, a $1.1 billion initiative by the Saudi Ministry of Communications and Information Technology aimed at boosting the local production of digital content. Additionally, two firms relocated their regional headquarters to Saudi Arabia, and three others recently scaled their business with key strategic partners such as energy giant Aramco.
The 13 companies recognized in the celebration were Augustus Media and OQ Technology (Media and Telecommunications), Yellow Door Energy (Energy), Kitopi and Merit Incentives (Technology), Grankraft and Konn Technologies (Construction), Unipart (Logistics), Checkout.com and Democrance (Financial), Starvania and Artisan Studio (Gaming), and Lenskart (Retail).
AstroLabs' Chief Strategy Officer, Joe Kobrianos, concluded the event by announcing the launch of the AstroLabs Network, a new platform aiming to help companies connect and engage with leaders through tailored match-making, establish new partnerships, and access curated insights industry-specific knowledge, and exclusive events.
The "600 Forward" event exemplified Saudi Arabia's rapid growth trajectory. In collaboration with key partners from both private and public sectors, AstroLabs is facilitating seamless business integration into the Kingdom, and contributing to Saudi's ongoing accelerated development.
