#UAE #funding - Abu Dhabi-based investment firm Shorooq and ADX-listed applied AI company Presight (ADX: PRESIGHT) have backed Maven Robotics in a $100 million Series A round, alongside RoboStrategy, LocalGlobe, Vine Ventures and XTX Ventures. Santa Clara-based Maven builds general-purpose industrial robots supporting an estimated $80 billion warehouse market. The investment was made through the Presight–Shorooq Fund I for global AI innovation and the Shorooq Partners Bedaya Fund, and will support build-out of Maven’s third-generation robot fleet and design of a fourth-generation.
SO WHAT? - Most Gulf AI venture capital so far been invested in chips, cloud and models, the software layer of AI. This deal backs a company building the physical machines AI actually operates. Maven was built to address a warehouse automation market worth tens of billions of dollars. The investment represents more than capital itself, since Presight offerx Maven access to G42’s compute and enterprise network to help it scale faster. This is a similar formula that Presight has applied to its AI-Startup Accelerator, now in its second year.
KEY POINTS:
Shorooq and Presight, an ADX-listed G42 company, have invested in Maven Robotics’ $100 million Series A round, made through the Presight–Shorooq Fund I fund for global AI innovation and the Shorooq Partners Bedaya Fund, and, alongside RoboStrategy, LocalGlobe, Vine Ventures and XTX Ventures.
Maven Robotics, founded in 2024 and based in Santa Clara, California, builds general-purpose industrial robots for logistics and manufacturing, starting with mixed-case palletising and tote handling.
Those two workflows represent an estimated $80 billion addressable market, and Maven’s robots already run up to 16 hours a day at customer sites with reliability above 99%.
The new capital will fund production of 250 of Maven’s third-generation robots and design of a fourth generation, as the company expands into a warehouse automation market worth tens of billions of dollars.
Hamza Derbas, CEO and co-founder of Maven Robotics, said the partners bring more than capital, including access to compute, data and enterprise relationships that will help the company deploy faster and reach new customers.
The deal adds to Shorooq’s portfolio of frontier technology investments, which connects category-defining AI and deep-tech companies globally to capital, compute and enterprise networks within the UAE’s AI ecosystem.
ZOOM OUT - Presight and Shorooq launched the $100 million Presight-Shorooq Fund I in September 2025. The fund targets AI and deep tech startups across smart cities, energy, fintech, Industry 4.0 and deep tech. The fund’s proposition combines Shorooq's venture track record, which includes Tamara, Sarwa and TruKKer, with Presight's cloud compute, GPU resources and international customer network. Thus, the fund helps to open commercial pathways across the Middle East, North America and Asia. The fund’s advisory board is chaired by Presight Vice Chairman Mansoor Al Mansoori, and includes Thiel Capital's Jack Selby.
[Written and edited with the assistance of AI]
Source: Presight, Shorooq
Read more about the Presight-Shorooq fund:
Presight picks 12 startups for AI accelerator (Middle East AI News)
Yann LeCun’s AMI joins Presight–Shorooq $100m AI fund (Middle East AI News)
Presight-Shorooq AI fund deploys capital in five companies (Middle East AI News)
Presight appoints global Advisory Board for $100M AI fund (Middle East AI News)
Presight & Shorooq launch $100 million AI fund (Middle East AI News)