Capital Series: Bruce Niven, Aramco Ventures

Bruce Niven is the Head of Strategic Venturing at Aramco Ventures. Aramco Ventures is the corporate venturing arm of Aramco, a world-leading integrated energy and chemicals company. As of 2022, it was the second-largest company in the world by revenue. It also has both the world's second-largest proven crude oil reserves at more than 270 billion barrels and largest daily oil production of all oil producing companies. Bruce joined Aramco Ventures 11 years ago to build the corporate venture program. He led the design of its first $500 million fund and has since expanded to include three funds totaling 3 billion in assets under management. The venture unit has done close to 200 transactions, deployed more than 30 technologies, and have three exits. Late last year, it launched a $1.5 billion sustainability fund that Bruce manages. Jason and Bruce have a great discussion about Aramco's history and future, plus Bruce's personal venture journey. We talk about Aramco Ventures, what they look for in investments, how they think about strategic fit versus returns, the types of technologies that Bruce and Aramco Ventures find exciting, and what founders might expect from working with Aramco post-investment. Enjoy the show!