(Bloomberg) –Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures, a unit of the kingdom’s energy company, is preparing to start a new fund this year after completing $500 million in investments.

The new fund will also be roughly $500 million in size, Majid Mufti, the company’s chief executive officer, said in an interview on the sidelines of an energy conference in Abu Dhabi. It will be financed primarily by returns on the previous investment, which has backed 45 technology companies, primarily in the U.S. and Europe, since 2012.

The venture capital firm opened an office in Beijing in December, Mufti said.

–With assistance from Mahmoud Habboush.