Derayah Commits $65M to HOF Capital's AI Investment Fund

Saudi asset manager Derayah Financial has pledged USD 65 million (SAR 244 million) to HOF Capital's Strategic Opportunities Fund II, a vehicle built to back roughly 15 companies across artificial intelligence, enterprise software, and advanced technology.

The commitment landed at the fund's closing on August 28, with Derayah paying 40% of its pledge upfront, USD 26 million (SAR 97.5 million). The remaining 60% is scheduled to be paid in installments over the next 24 months, and Derayah says it will cover the transaction through internal resources and existing credit facilities rather than raising new capital.

HOF Capital's fund is aiming for USD 1.2 billion in total commitments, with room to grow to a maximum of USD 1.5 billion. That scale puts it among the larger technology-focused vehicles courting Gulf institutional capital this year.

A stepping stone to Derayah's own fund

The Fund II stake is not necessarily a permanent holding. Derayah has said it intends to roll this investment into a new, multi-strategy fund it plans to establish specifically for AI and technology exposure, once that vehicle clears regulatory approval.

That structure effectively treats the HOF Capital commitment as a bridge: Derayah gets exposure to AI and enterprise software deals now, while building the internal infrastructure to manage a dedicated fund later. No timeline for the regulatory sign-off was disclosed.

For Saudi capital allocators, the deal fits a broader pattern of routing money into AI-adjacent technology through established global fund managers rather than building direct deal pipelines from scratch. HOF Capital, in turn, gains a Gulf-based limited partner willing to commit meaningful capital toward a fund that could ultimately deploy well over a billion dollars into AI, software, and technology companies.

The arrangement also signals how regional financial institutions are structuring AI exposure in stages: an initial commitment to a proven fund manager, followed by plans for a proprietary vehicle once the market and regulatory groundwork are in place. Whether Derayah's own AI and technology fund materializes on schedule will depend on approvals that remain pending.