Riyadh - Sharikat Mubasher: Savvy Games Group, the Saudi gaming and esports company owned by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), signed a memorandum of understanding with NEOM to streamline the journey of Saudi gaming startups from incubation to acceleration.
The agreement formalizes a coordinated approach between Savvy’s Nine66 Incubator Program and NEOM’s ‘Level Up’ Accelerator, ensuring that startups graduating from Savvy’s Incubator have the training, resources, and support required to progress efficiently into NEOM’s Accelerator, according to an official statement released today.
Through the Nine66 Incubator Program, Savvy aims to help startups achieve readiness to move into the subsequent stages of development and scaling. The program helps early-stage studios validate prototypes, build foundational capabilities, and prepare for investor engagement.
Amr Sager, Group Chief of Staff at Savvy Games Group, emphasized that the partnership with NEOM will help Savvy continue empowering Saudi studios and game makers. “As the games industry continues to grow at a rapid pace in Saudi Arabia, there is an increasing number of programs and initiatives designed to help emerging studios and entrepreneurs to build, run, and scale their businesses. This momentum is encouraging, and the next step would be to create stronger synergy and alignment across these efforts, so that the journey is smoother and clearer for startups to identify and source the support they need,” he said.
For his part, Toby Evan-Jones, Executive Director and Head of Gaming at NEOM, commented: “We share a joint view, with Savvy Games Group, that increasing coordination around the startup journey shall benefit all parties, not least the young game makers which we support. We couldn’t be more excited about this alignment.”
Level Up Accelerator provides funding and mentorship to scale incubated studios into self-sustaining businesses. Since 2023, it has grown into a multiphase platform supporting more than 45 Saudi startups, deploying 15 investments, and achieving a 100% survival rate within its portfolio.
