There is something wrong with how most startup competitions are structured. You enter, you pitch, you win — and then you discover that claiming your prize requires giving away five or ten percent of your equity. You have the misfortune of winning.

That model tells you everything about how these competitions view founders: as targets to extract value from, rather than talent worthy of support.

The approach we took with LEAP's Rocket Fuel Pitch Competition was deliberately different. One million dollars in prizes, no strings attached, entirely equity-free. If you want to support founders, you cannot begin by extracting value from them.

But the more important signal is not the competition — it is what sits behind it. Over the past decade, coordination between the Saudi government and private sector has produced a symbiotic mix of national ambition, favourable regulation and openness to international cooperation, building an ecosystem that moves technology forward with remarkable speed.

A distinct culture of execution has taken hold, compressing the distance between idea and impact. Humain, founded last year, is already building the Kingdom's first data centres, on track to become one of the most significant AI companies globally. In fintech, unicorns like STC Bank and Tamara have emerged from frameworks built to back innovators and entrepreneurs.

STC Bank began life in 2018 as one of the Kingdom’s first electronic wallet providers (stc pay) within Saudi Telecom Company and has since evolved into a fully fledged, Sharia-compliant digital bank.

More recently, EZ Bank, a joint venture between Ajlan & Bros Holding and Qatar National Bank, secured its 2025 licence with capitalisation of SAR 2.5B (approximately $667M).

National champions are moving just as fast. Saudi Aramco has built a network of innovation centres developing AI, robotics and IoT (Internet of Things) technologies. Saudi Arabian Military Industries signed 25 strategic agreements at the World Defense Show in February, covering technology transfer and industrial localisation.

Women are a driving force too. According to Monsha'at, the Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority, they lead 45% of the Kingdom's SMEs. UNESCO puts their share of the tech workforce at 35%, ahead of many Western countries.

Saudi Arabia is, in my view, the single most important place globally right now for those serious about technology. The trajectory is upward, the ambition is real, and LEAP is proud to be part of it.