Technical due diligence · Saudi Arabia
Technical due diligence in Saudi Arabia for investors, acquirers, and founders
Before you invest in, acquire, or partner with a technology company, you need an independent view of what the technology really is: how it is built, who owns it, what it will cost to scale, and which risks could affect the deal.
In short
Technical due diligence is an independent assessment of a company's technology to identify risks and costs that affect an investment, acquisition, or partnership decision. It covers architecture, code quality, security, data handling, team, vendors, IP ownership, and scalability.
Who this is for
- Angel investors, VCs, and family offices investing in Saudi startups
- Companies acquiring or merging with a technology business
- Founders preparing for a funding round who want to find issues first
- Corporates selecting a strategic technology partner
Problems this solves
- The product demo looks good, but nobody has examined the code or infrastructure.
- The platform was built by an outsourced agency and IP ownership is unclear.
- One or two engineers hold all the critical knowledge.
- The business plan assumes growth that the current architecture may not support.
What a technical due diligence covers
The scope depends on the deal, but it usually includes:
- Architecture: fitness for the business plan, scalability, and technical debt
- Code quality: maintainability, test coverage, and engineering practices
- Security: access control, secrets management, vulnerabilities, and incident history
- Data: personal data handling, PDPL exposure, data location, and backups
- Infrastructure and costs: hosting, cloud spend, and how costs scale with users
- Team: structure, key-person risk, hiring needs, and knowledge documentation
- Vendors and IP: who owns the code, licences, third-party dependencies, and lock-in
- Roadmap realism: whether planned features and timelines are achievable
Risks I see often in Saudi deals
Many Saudi startups build their first product with an agency. That is not a problem in itself, but it raises specific questions: is source code and infrastructure owned by the company, is there documentation, can another team take over, and are third-party licences in the company's name? For FinTech and regulated sectors, the diligence also checks whether architecture and data handling are compatible with the applicable regulator's expectations. Formal regulatory opinions are left to specialists.
What you receive
A concise report written for decision-makers: a summary of findings rated by severity, the estimated effort to fix critical issues, key questions for management, and recommendations that can feed into deal terms or a 100-day plan. Technical detail is included in appendices for the engineering team.
How the engagement works
- Scoping. Agree the questions the deal needs answered, timelines, and access required.
- Document and data room review. Architecture documents, contracts, licences, and infrastructure information.
- Technical sessions. Structured interviews with the technical team and walkthroughs of code and systems.
- Report and debrief. Severity-rated findings, remediation estimates, and a debrief with the investment or leadership team.
Relevant experience
Muhammad Owais Talat has spent 15+ years building and leading engineering teams across FinTech, AI, EdTech, and government-scale platforms, including Dinar.sa in Riyadh, NEOM digital platforms, Locofy.ai, and BankOnUs. That delivery experience is what due diligence needs: knowing how products are actually built, where shortcuts hide, and what remediation really costs. Full profile
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Frequently asked questions
What is technical due diligence?
Technical due diligence is an independent assessment of a company's technology: architecture, code, security, data, infrastructure, team, vendors, and intellectual property. It's carried out before an investment, acquisition, or partnership to identify risks and remediation costs.
When should investors do technical due diligence on a Saudi startup?
Before committing to a significant investment or acquisition, especially when the product is the core asset, when it was built by an outsourced agency, or when the business plan depends on rapid scaling.
How long does technical due diligence take?
Typically one to three weeks depending on the size of the company, the scope, and how quickly the target provides access to documents, systems, and people.
Can founders commission due diligence on their own company?
Yes. A pre-funding technology review helps founders find and fix issues before investors do, and prepare clear answers to technical questions during the round.
Is technical due diligence the same as a security audit or penetration test?
No. Technical due diligence covers the whole technology picture, including security at a high level. A penetration test is a specialised security exercise and may be recommended as a follow-up if diligence finds security concerns.
Scope a technical due diligence