Tech start-ups are being urged to come forward and pitch their ideas around smart energy to Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Development Company.

The company’s ventures director, Michael Slage, issued a ‘come and find us’ plea at the LEAP 2022 forum in Riyadh.

Slage said that his firm, set to be a luxury tourism destination along Saudi Arabia’s west coast, does not mind if it does business with established companies or new players in the market.

He said the real issue for startups is to find the first client, and added: “Come to us, show us your technology , if it’s good enough we will take it.”

The discussion on smart energy saw Fabio Fontana from the NEOM Tech & Digital Company call for more nuclear power to be developed to support the transition to renewables in the region.

He also urged for greater education around individual responsibility when it comes to saving power, saying that most people would leave the lights on in a hotel just because it’s not their property.