Meet the Saudi 'vegan prince' driving climate awareness and social change in the kingdom

While Saudi hospitality is traditionally expressed by serving feasts centred on meat, Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed chose a different path.

Known as the kingdom's "vegan prince", he says that his lifestyle permeates every purchase he makes after he adopted a whole food plant-based diet.

Prince Khaled is the founder and chief executive of KBW Ventures, an asset management company that focuses on venture capital, value creation and growth equity. It is part of KBW Group of Companies.

He seeks to empower risk-takers and young start-ups, but he also cares deeply about any kind of animal suffering and is determined to help bring about change.

"My car doesn’t have leather seats, our offices have faux leather furniture. [There are] no products at all that have been tested on animals or have animal-derived ingredients," he tells The National.

"I have a big interest in sleep and a few other metrics that I monitor through different fit-tech devices," he says. "I changed my entire approach to sleep and how much I actually sleep, and even sleep hygiene, based on what I have found.”

Prince Khaled is a vocal supporter of clean energy and the humane treatment of animals, as well as promoting entrepreneurship in the kingdom.

Personal path to veganism

The move to a vegan lifestyle began with changes to his diet that focused on nutrition and health, he says.

"I want to see people – all the people – keep an open mind about science and apply critical thinking to their everyday lives in terms of how they can be part of the larger solutions."

He calls on people to be "mindful and deliberate" about their legacy on Earth.

"I wanted to feel better and look better," he says. "My lifestyle first changed when [my diet] became plant-based, and then again even more when I went to CrossFit.

"My health is my priority, so the sleep, the fitness, the healthy routines overall, these are the things that run my life and dictate how I spend my time and orient my schedule."

He made a personal choice to get educated and do his own research. "You know what they say about algorithms? They feed you more and more of the same content. It wasn’t like that back when I started eating plant-based [meals]."

He learnt from others who advocated cutting meat and dairy from his diet.

The more he read about factory farming, the more he was convinced he "didn’t want to play even the smallest role in it".

KBW Ventures has invested in Blue Planet Ecosystems, a start-up from Austria. "It’s really exciting for Saudi Arabia to lead on this front. It was a great moment for me to see one of the companies we back prove so interesting to a major business in my home country," he says. The KBW Ventures-backed startup recently signed a MoU with The Red Sea Development Company for a sustainable-seafood initiative.

Tech for good

Prince Khaled plans to continue supporting "tech for good" by investing in the right projects.

"There are so many ways that technology can enhance the status quo," he says.

"We just need to keep giving innovators room to grow, and the financial backing to see their ideas through.

"I guess you could say my goals converge a lot in my work because it is very personal to me. Last year, one of our tech investments was an electric aviation solution, clean tech, something really important to me."

He has been able to link personal and business goals in some of his deals, such as investments in Rebellyous Foods and Moku Foods, which promote plant-based diets.

"Both companies have founders that see a bigger, healthier, more sustainable future, and both of them chose to provide protein-rich alternatives to the existing options," he says.

"So basically, don’t just lecture people on eating better and thinking more as a consumer. Give them better choices.”

A voice for sustainability

Prince Khaled says he "noticed a gap that must be filled in this world" and that addressing the inefficiencies of factory farming brings a social responsibility to end animal suffering.

He says governments should reconsider subsidising the traditional models of meat and dairy production, because it is only staving off the inevitable switch to "cell-cultivated production or plant-based alternatives".

The authorities should begin to subsidise the plant-based movement and cellular agriculture companies, or cut subsidies for factory farming, he says. "Basically, we can either sit back and watch the climate crisis escalate dangerously or we can all decide to do something – together.

"This way, the factory farming businesses will be incentivised to change to more sustainable methods," he says.

He says there are many great alternatives now so it is "even potentially upping the ante in terms of product offering".

Prince Khaled says most entrepreneurs he has spoken to believe social causes are important, even before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Practically every entrepreneur that I have talked to, and anyone really with a shred of conscience, felt that social causes were already important pre-Covid," he says.

He said he finds that the entrepreneurs – "with some likeminded investors – are driving these important conversations, which is terrific, because they are the world’s problem solvers".

Prince Khaled says he still has a lot to achieve as a business leader and investor.

"I’m very fortunate to be able to work on something I love. The journey isn’t over and there is so much to be done," he says.

"Every purchase decision makes a difference, and so does every investment. That’s what I have come to see as true so far."