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A U.S. entrepreneur and UK-based investor have launched Saudi Arabia’s first defense venture capital fund, Masna Ventures, with an initial funding target of $100 million.
American entrepreneur Lucien Zeigler and London-based investor Nehal Farooqui have launched Saudi Arabia’s first defense venture capital (VC) fund, MASNA Ventures, with an initial funding target of $375 SAR ($100 million).
MASNA Ventures said in a Feb. 8 news release that it will mainly target newly established Saudi companies that “harness proven, trusted systems and technologies” from the U.S. and allied nations to produce locally in the Kingdom.
The fund’s launch comes as Saudi Arabia steadily increases defense spending in line with its Vision 2030 goal of localizing 50% of defense procurement. The Kingdom’s General Authority for Military Industries (GAMI) estimates that localization of military spending reached roughly 25% by the end of 2024.
At the same time, MASNA is likely to benefit from a deepening U.S.-Saudi relationship under the second Donald Trump administration. Last year, the two countries signed a strategic defense agreement (SDA), and the U.S. designated Saudi Arabia as a major non-NATO ally. In a November 2025 fact sheet, the White House described the SDA as “a win for the America First agenda, making it easier for U.S. defense firms to operate in Saudi Arabia, securing new burden-sharing funds from Saudi Arabia to defray U.S. costs, and affirming that the Kingdom views the United States as its primary strategic partner.”
MASNA is positioned at “a pivotal point in the SR2 Defense Systems value chain, providing institutional seed capital to new Saudi companies and investing strategically as the Kingdom’s high-tech defense ecosystem ramps up,” Zeigler said in a Feb. 8 LinkedIn post. SR2 Defense Systems is a Riyadh-based U.S.-Saudi joint venture (JV) established in late 2025 between Zeigler’s REDSALT Defense advisory firm and Saudi Arabia’s Science Technology for Development and Industrial Investment group. The JV focuses on defense manufacturing localization.
Saudi Arabia began producing key components for Lockheed Martin’s THAAD missile defense system, including interceptor canisters and missile round pallets, in May 2025 at a Jeddah facility. Lockheed’s local partner is Arabian International Company for Steel Structures (AIC).
Lockheed-owned Sikorsky is also working to establish local production of up to 150 Black Hawk helicopters in Saudi Arabia. The initiative involves a JV, Rotary Aircraft Manufacturing Saudi Arabia (RAMSA), with the Saudi Technology Development and Investment Company (TAQNIA) to build, train and transfer technology.
Looking ahead, MASNA says that it anticipates opportunities in industries adjacent to defense, including aerospace and defense MRO/services, supply chain and logistics.
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