STC Ventures Completes its Investment in Acadox

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Riyadh, KSA, April 17, 2013: Saudi Telecom Company and Iris Capital (STC Ventures’ Fund Manager) announced today that STC Ventures Fund has recently concluded the acquisition of a significant minority stake in IT Interactive Software Company (Acadox). Acadox is one of the early startup companies that has recently graduated from the New Ventures & Entrepreneurship Program of King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (KAUST).

Dr Fahad Mushayt, VP Corporate Strategy at Saudi Telecom, said: “The establishment of STC Ventures in early 2012 comes as part of the Kingdom’s strategic direction and its drive to transform to a knowledge-based economy by enriching the spirit of both initiative and innovation being a fund that invests in start-ups and small and medium sized businesses which develop products and services in the field of telecommunications and information technology. In return this creates a market and key investment opportunities by being the first to have access to technologies and modern services as well as enter into new partnerships. Doing so will create new job opportunities, encourage and develop innovation and creativity and continuous development as well support the infrastructure for a knowledge based economy.” He added: “As a result of this important initiative, Saudi Telecom is proud to have STC Ventures Fund complete its investment and become the first investor in Acadox which recently graduated from the Seed Fund Program of one of the world’s leading universities, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology”.

Mr. Teo Uysal, Acting Director of New Ventures & Entrepreneurship at KAUST said: “We are thrilled that STC Ventures, a leading Saudi venture capital fund, partnered with Acadox, one of our first Seed Fund graduates. The influx of new capital reflects the high potential of Acadox and is a testament to the innovativeness of Acadox’s technology platform, its exciting business potential and the strength of its team. With this new funding and Board representation of STC Ventures, Acadox will be able to accelerate its growth in the education marketplace.”

Mr. Aiman Al-Atiqi, Partner at Iris Capital, said: “The Seed Fund Program and the Entrepreneurship Center at KAUST are stellar examples of excellence in the development of complex, technology based startups, assisting entrepreneurs in shaping their research and development projects to form successful technology startups and become leading companies in Saudi Arabia.”

Mr. Mustafa Nabulsi, Co-Founder and CEO of Acadox said: “The idea started when we saw a need for an efficient tool allowing students to learn on their own terms & timeline. We knew that the traditional course tools are increasingly irrelevant for today’s students and faculty.  Acadox aims to be the educational hub for the Middle East providing top notch technologies for faculty and students to manage their academic lives in an easier and more practical way. This service is provided through a web-based platform that facilitates a better learning environment for students and faculties. The company provides extensive services that follow world class standards in terms of hosting, security, scalability, and cloud computing. Our values are to increase knowledge sharing and an overall better learning experience for all. We are now looking to collaborate with more universities, and to provide our tools to more students and faculties.”

STC Ventures Contact:

Aiman Al-Atiqi, Partner

Tel: +966 505 362453

Email: aiman@stcventures.com