FoundersInvestorsMediaCareersContact
Home / About

About

A venture studio built where the science, the regulator, and the buyer all are.

KaRama forms health technology companies in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and stays on their cap tables.

Purpose

Turn health technology into Saudi companies that can actually be bought from.

KaRama Venture Studio operates from the SFDA campus in Hittin, Riyadh. We originate company theses from unmet needs inside Saudi health systems, co-found the companies against them, capitalize them from our own balance sheet, and carry them through regulatory approval to a first Kingdom contract.

We are a principal, not an adviser and not an intermediary. We hold a founder's stake in every company on this site, taken at incorporation, and we stay.

15Companies built or co-founded
3Areas of focus
SFDACampus resident, Hittin, Riyadh
2030Health sector transformation program

Vision 2030

Saudi Vision 2030

Aligned to the health sector transformation program, and useful to it.

The Health Sector Transformation Program set out to restructure how the Kingdom delivers and pays for care: clusters on commercial footing, prevention moved upstream, a domestic supply base for what the system buys.

The last of those is where a studio is useful. Localization targets are met by companies existing, not by intent. Every company we form is a Saudi entity, staffed here, procurable here, and cleared here.

Leadership

The people who do the forming.

In a studio, the operators are the product. A founder deciding whether to build with us is deciding about these people.

Dr. Khalid Alshaigi

Dr. Khalid Alshaigi

Chairman and Co-founder

Dr. Khalid Alshaigi is the Co-Founder and Chairman of KaRama VS, leading the studio’s mission to advance digital health, biotechnology, and innovation in alignment with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030. With a strong background in healthcare leadership and innovation strategy, he drives partnerships that bridge research, entrepreneurship, and industry. His vision focuses on localizing global technologies and empowering the next generation of Saudi innovators.

Bruce Gurfein

Bruce Gurfein

Chief Executive Officer

Bruce Gurfein is CEO and Founding Partner of KaRama Venture Studio. Thirty years building companies in emerging markets and four exits — the first at nineteen. He co-founded RoadMetric, the first company to automate traffic enforcement using AI, and sold it to Redflex; he built First Care from zero to $50 million. Resident in Riyadh since 2024, he leads the studio's portfolio from the SFDA campus, structuring the joint ventures that bring international health technology into the Kingdom.

Abdallah Dandachi

Abdallah Dandachi

Chief Operating Officer

Abdallah Dandachi is the Chief Operating Officer at KaRama VS, overseeing strategic execution and ecosystem development across the venture studio’s innovation portfolio. With extensive experience in entrepreneurship, partnerships, and business strategy, he drives collaboration between startups, investors, and government stakeholders to accelerate Saudi Arabia’s digital health and biotechnology transformation under Vision 2030.

Justin Innis

Justin Innis

Chief Investment Officer

Justin Innis is the Chief Investment Officer at KaRama VS, where he leads the studio’s investment strategy and portfolio development across digital health, biotechnology, and emerging technologies. With extensive experience in venture capital and global market analysis, he focuses on identifying high-impact opportunities and building partnerships that accelerate innovation and align with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030.

Dr. Rama Alsaeed

Dr. Rama Alsaeed

Chief Innovation Officer

Dr. Rama Alsaeed is the Chief Innovation Officer at KaRama VS, leading the studio’s innovation strategy and ecosystem initiatives that empower startups to develop and scale transformative technologies. With deep expertise in innovation management and strategic development, she drives programs that bridge research, entrepreneurship, and impact — advancing KaRama’s mission to shape Saudi Arabia’s future of health and technology in line with Vision 2030.

Partners

Some of our partners.

SFDASFDASaudi Food and Drug Authority
MonshaatMonshaatSmall and Medium Enterprises General Authority
Ministry of HealthMinistry of HealthClinical and procurement partner
MicrosoftMicrosoftPlatform and go-to-market
GoogleGoogle for StartupsPlatform and go-to-market
AWSAWS ActivateInfrastructure

Sign up for the studio letter

Quarterly, from Riyadh: what we incorporated, what cleared the SFDA, and what is opening to outside capital.

Sign up